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JOHN  SKALLY  TERRY 

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"BEFORE   HE    COULD    STRIKE   AGAIN,    I    HAD    RUN    HIM    THROUGH." 

Colonel  Thorndyke' s  Secret.  — Frontispiece. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 
llll 


00022245483 

COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S 
SECRET 


BY 

G.   A.   HENTY 

AUTHOR  OF  "BY  PIKE  AND  DYKE,"   "THE  LION  OF  ST.  MARK, * 

"THE  CAT  OF  BUBASTES,"   "BY  ENGLAND'S  AID," 

"RUJUB  THE  JUGGLER,"  ETC. 


THE  MERSHON   COMPANY 
RAHWAY,    N.    J.  NEW    YORK 


Copyright,  iqoi, 

BY 

THE  MERSHON  COMPANY* 


PTJBLISHEKS'   INTRODUCTION. 

"  Colonel  Thorndyke's  Secret  "  is  a  story  so  far  out 
of  the  ordinary  that  it  will  not  be  inappropriate  to  speak 
a  few  words  regarding  the  tale  and  its  unusually  success- 
ful author,  Mr.  George  Alfred  Henty. 

The  plot  of  the  story  hinges  upon  the  possession  of  a 
valuable  bracelet  of  diamonds,  stolen  from  a  Hindoo  idol 
by  a  British  soldier  in  India.  This  bracelet  falls  into  the 
possession  of  Colonel  Thorndyke,  who,  shortly  afterward, 
is  sent  home  to  England  because  of  his  wounds.  The 
secret  concerning  the  bracelet  is  told  to  the  Colonel's 
brother,  a  country  squire,  and  the  treasure  is  left  to 
younger  members  of  the  Thorndyke  family. 

As  is  well  known  to-day,  the  theft  of  anything  from  a 
Hindoo  temple  is  considered  an  extraordinary  crime  in 
India,  and  when  this  occurs  it  becomes  a  religious  duty 
for  one  or  more  persons  to  hunt  down  the  thief  and 
bring  back  the  property  taken  from  the  heathen  god. 

The  members  of  the  Thorndyke  family  soon  learn  that 
they  are  being  watched.  But  this  is  at  a  time  when  high- 
waymen are  numerous  in  this  part  of  England,  and  they 
cannot  determine  whether  the  work  is  that  of  the 
"  knights  of  the  roads  "  or  that  of  the  Lascars  after  the 
famous  bracelet.  A  mysterious  death  follows,  and  the 
younger  members  of  the  family  are  almost  stunned,  not 
knowing  what  will  happen  noxt.  They  would  give  the 
bracelet  up,  but  do  not  know  where  it  is  hidden,  the 
secret  having  been  in  the  sole  possession  of  the  member 
now  dead. 

In  this  quandary  the  young  hero  of  the  tale  rises  to 
the  occasion  and  determines  to  join  the  London  police 
force  and  become  a  detective,  with  the  hope  of  ultimately 
clearing  up  the  mystery.  Thrilling  adventures  of  a  most 
unusual  kind  follow,  and  at  last  something  of  the  mystery 
is  explained.  The  bracelet  and  ether  jewelry  are  un- 
earthed, and  it  is  decided  to  take  the  bracelet  to  Amster- 

iii 

696730 


iv  PUBLISHERS'  INTRODUCTION. 

dam  and  offer  it  to  the  diamond-cutters  at  that  place. 

But  the  carrying  of  the  bracelet  is  both  difficult  and 
dangerous.  How  the  mission  is  brought  to  a  conclusion, 
and  what  part  the  Lascars  played  in  the  final  adventure, 
will  be  found  in  the  pages  that  follow. 

It  can  truthfully  be  said  that  Mr.  Henty  is  easily  the 
most  popular  of  all  English  story-tellers,  his  books  for 
boys  enjoying  a  circulation  of  from  a  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  per  year. 
His  tales  are  all  clean,  and  although  some  are  full  of 
exciting  situations  and  thrilling  to  the  last  degree,  they 
are  of  a  high  moral  tone,  while  the  English  employed  is 
of  the  best. 

The  present  story  is  of  peculiar  value  as  giving  a  good 
insight  into  country  and  town  life  in  England  over  a 
hundred  years  ago,  when  railways  and  telegraph  lines 
were  unknown  and  when  the  "  knights  of  the  road  "  were 
apt  to  hold  up  any  stagecoach  that  happened  to  come 
along.  It  also  gives  a  truthful  picture  of  the  dark  and  un- 
derhanded work  accomplished  at  times  by  those  of  East 
Indian  blood,  especially  when  on  what  they  consider  a 
religious  mission. 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Squiee  Thoendyke,  of  the  Manor  House  of  Crawley, 
was,  on  the  1st  of  September,  1782,  walking  up  and  down 
the  little  terrace  in  front  of  the  quaint  old  house  in  an 
unusually  disturbed  mood.  He  was  a  man  of  forty-three 
or  -four,  stoutly  and  strongly  built,  and  inclined  to  be 
portly.  Save  the  loss  of  his  wife  four  years  before,  there 
had  been  but  little  to  ruffle  the  easy  tenor  of  his  life.  A 
younger  son,  he  had,  at  his  mother's  death,  when  he  was 
three-and-twenty,  come  in  for  the  small  estate  at  Crawley, 
which  had  been  her  jointure. 

For  ten  years  he  had  led  a  life  resembling  that  of  most 
of  his  neighbors;  he  had  hunted  and  shot,  been  a  regular 
attendant  at  any  main  of  cocks  that  was  fought  within 
fifteen  miles  of  Crawley,  had  occasionally  been  up  to 
London  for  a  week  or  two  to  see  the  gay  doings  there. 
Of  an  evening  he  had  generally  gone  down  to  the  inn, 
where  he  talked  over,  with  two  or  three  of  his  own  con- 
dition and  a  few  of  the  better  class  of  farmers,  the  news 
of  the  day,  the  war  with  the  French,  the  troubles  in  Scot- 
land, the  alarming  march  of  the  Young  Pretender,  and  his 
defeat  at  Culloden — with  no  very  keen  interest  in  the 
result,  for  the  Southern  gentry  and  yeomen,  unlike  those 
in  the  North,  had  no  strong  leanings  either  way.  They 
had  a  dull  dislike  for  Hanoverian  George,  but  no  great 
love  for  the  exiled  Stuarts,  whose  patron,  the  King  of 
France,  was  an  enemy  of  England. 

More  often,  however,  their  thoughts  turned  upon  local 
topics — the  holding  up  of  the  coach  of  Sir  James  Harris 
or  Squire  Hamilton  by  highwaymen;  the  affray  between 
the  French  smugglers  and  the  Revenue  men  near  Selsea 
Bill   or   Shoreham;   the   delinquencies    of    the   poaching 


2  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

gangs;  the  heaviness  of  the  taxes,  and  the  price  of 
corn. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-three  Squire  Thorndyke  married 
the  daughter  of  a  neighboring  landowner;  a  son  was  horn 
and  three  years  later  Mrs.  Thorndyke  died.  Since  then 
the  Squire  had  led  a  more  retired  life;  he  still  went  down 
to  smoke  his  pipe  at  the  inn  parlor,  hut  he  gave  up  his 
visits  to  town;  and  cock-fights,  and  even  bull-baiting, 
were  no  longer  attractions  to  him.  He  was  known  as  a 
good  landlord  to  the  three  or  four  farmers  who  held 
land  under  him;  was  respected  and  liked  in  the  village, 
where  he  was  always  ready  to  assist  in  cases  of  real  dis- 
tress; was  of  an  easy-going  disposition  and  on  good  terms 
with  all  his  neighbors. 

But  to-day  he  was  unusually  disturbed  in  his  mind. 
A  messenger  had  ridden  up  two  hours  before  with  a  letter 
from  London.    It  was  as  follows: 

"  My  Dear  Brother  John: 

"  You  will  be  surprised  indeed  at  this  letter  from  me, 
who,  doubtless,  you  suppose  to  be  fighting  in  India.  I 
have  done  with  fighting,  and  am  nearly  done  with  life. 
I  was  shot  in  the  battle  of  Buxar,  eighteen  months  ago. 
For  a  time  the  surgeons  thought  that  it  was  going  to  be 
fatal;  then  I  rallied,  and  for  some  months  it  seemed  that, 
in  spite  of  the  ball  that  they  were  never  able  to  find,  I 
was  going  to  get  over  it,  and  should  be  fit  for  service 
again.  Then  I  got  worse;  first  it  was  a  cough,  then  the 
blood  used  to  come  up,  and  they  said  that  the  only  chance 
for  me  was  to  come  home.  I  did  not  believe  it  would  be 
of  any  use,  but  I  thought  that  I  would  rather  die  at  home 
than  in  India,  so  home  I  came,  and  have  now  been  a  week 
in  London. 

"  I  thought  at  first  of  going  down  to  my  place  at 
Reigate,  and  having  you  and  your  boy  there  with  me; 
but  aa  I  have  certainly  not  many  weeks,  perhaps  not 
many  days,  to  live,  I  thought  I  would  come  down  to  you; 
so  the  day  after  you  receive  this  letter  I  shall  be  with 
you.  I  shall  not  bring  my  little  girl  down;  I  have  left 
her-  in  good  hands,  and  I  shall  only  bring  with  me  my 
Hindoo  servant.    He  will  give  you  no  trouble — a  mat  to 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  3 

sleep  on,  and  a  little  rice  to  eat,  will  satisfy  his  wants; 
and  he  will  take  the  trouble  of  me  a  good  deal  off  your 
hands.  He  was  a  Sepoy  in  my  regiment,  and  has  always 
evinced  the  greatest  devotion  for  me.  More  than  once  in 
battle  he  has  saved  my  life,  and  has,  for  the  last  three 
years,  been  my  servant,  and  has  nursed  me  since  I  have 
been  ill  as  tenderly  as  a  woman  could  have  done.  As  I 
shall  have  time  to  tell  you  everything  when  I  arrive,  I  will 
say  no  more  now." 

The  news  had  much  affected  John  Thorndyke.  His 
brother  George  was  five  years  his  senior,  and  had  gone 
out  as  a  cadet  in  the  company's  service  when  John  was 
but  thirteen,  and  this  was  his  first  home-coming.  Had  it 
not  been  for  a  portrait  that  had  been  taken  of  him  in  his 
uniform  just  before  he  sailed,  John  would  have  had  but 
little  remembrance  of  him.  In  that  he  was  represented 
as  a  thin,  spare  youth,  with  an  expression  of  quiet  determi- 
nation in  his  face.  From  his  father  John  had,  of  course, 
heard  much  about  him. 

"  Nothing  would  satisfy  him  but  to  go  out  to  India, 
John.  There  was,  of  course,  no  occasion  for  it,  as  he 
would  have  this  place  after  me — a  fine  estate  and  a  good 
position:  what  could  he  want  more?  But  he  was  a 
curious  fellow.  Once  he  formed  an  opinion  there  was  no 
persuading  him  to  change  it.  He  was  always  getting 
ideas  such  as  no  one  else  would  think  of;  he  did  not  care 
for  anything  that  other  people  cared  for;  never  hunted 
nor  shot.  He  used  to  puzzle  me  altogether  with  his  ways, 
and,  'pon  my  word,  I  was  not  sorry  when  he  said  he  would 
go  to  India,  for  there  was  no  saying  how  he  might  have 
turned  out  if  he  had  stopped  here.  He  never  could  do 
anything  like  anybody  else:  nothing  that  he  could  have 
done  would  have  surprised  me. 

"  If  he  had  told  me  that  he  intended  to  be  a  play-actor, 
or  a  jockey,  or  a  private,  or  a  book-writer,  I  should  not 
have  been  surprised.  Upon  my  word,  it  was  rather  a 
relief  to  me  when  he  said,  'I  have  made  up  my  mind  to 
go  into  the  East  India  Service,  father.  I  suppose  you 
can  get  me  a  cadetship? '  At  least  that  was  an  honorable 
profession;  and  I  knew,  anyhow,  that  when  he  once  said, 


4  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

'I  have  made  up  my  mind,  father,'  no  arguments  would 
move  him,  and  that  if  I  did  not  get  him  a  cadetship  he 
was  perfectly  capable  of  running  away,  going  up  to  Lon- 
don, and  enlisting  in  one  of  their  white  regiments." 

John  Thorn  dyke's  own  remembrances  were  that  his 
brother  had  always  been  good-natured  to  him,  that  he 
had  often  told  him  long  stories  about  Indian  adventures, 
and  that  a  short  time  before  he  went  away,  having  heard 
that  he  had  been  unmercifully  beaten  by  the  schoolmaster 
at  Eeigate  for  some  trifling  fault,  he  had  gone  down  to 
the  town,  and  had  so  battered  the  man  that  the  school 
had  to  be  closed  for  a  fortnight.  They  had  always  kept 
up  a  correspondence.  When  he  received  the  news  of  his 
father's  death  George  had  written  to  him,  begging  him 
to  go  down  to  Eeigate,  and  to  manage  the  estate  for 
him. 

"  Of  course,"  he  said,  "  you  will  draw  its  income  as 
long  as  you  are  there.  I  mayn't  be  back  for  another 
twenty  years;  one  gets  rich  out  here  fast,  what  with 
plunder  and  presents  and  one  thing  and  another,  and 
it  is  no  use  to  have  money  accumulating  at  home,  so  just 
live  on  the  place  as  if  it  were  your  own,  until  I  come  home 
to  turn  you  out." 

John  had  declined  the  offer. 

"  I  am  very  well  where  I  am,"  he  wrote,  "  and  the  care 
of  the  estate  would  be  a  horrible  worry  to  me;  besides,  I 
have  just  married,  and  if  I  ever  have  any  children  they 
would  be  brought  up  beyond  their  station.  I  have  done 
what  I  can  for  you.  I  have  seen  the  family  lawyers,  who 
have  engaged  a  man  who  has  been  steward  to  Sir  John 
Hieover,  and  looked  after  the  estate  during  his  son's 
minority.  But  the  young  blade,  on  coming  of  age,  set  to 
work  to  make  ducks  and  drakes  of  the  property,  and  New- 
man could  not  bear  to  see  the  estate  going  to  the  Jews, 
so,  as  luck  would  have  it,  he  resigned  a  month  ago,  and 
has  been  appointed  steward  at  Eeigate.  Of  course,  if  you 
don't  like  the  arrangement  you  must  write  and  say  so.  It 
will  be  a  year  before  I  get  your  answer,  and  he  has  only 
been  engaged  for  certain  for  that  time;  it  must  lie  with 
you  as  to  permanent  arrangement." 

So  Newman  had  taken  charge  of  the  Eeigate  estate, 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  5 

and  had  continued  to  manage  it  ever  since,  although 
George  had  written  home  in  great  displeasure  at  his  offer 
being  refused. 

Inside  the  Manor  the  bustle  of  preparations  was  going 
on;  the  spare  room,  which  had  not  been  used  for  many 
years,  was  being  turned  out,  and  a  great  fire  lighted  to 
air  it.  John  Thorndyke  had  sent  a  letter  by  the  return- 
ing messenger  to  a  friend  in  town,  begging  him  to  go  at 
once  to  Leadenhall  Street  and  send  down  a  supply  of 
Indian  condiments  for  his  brother's  use,  and  had  then 
betaken  himself  to  the  garden  to  think  the  matter  over. 
The  next  day  a  post-chaise  arrived,  bringing  the  invalid 
and  his  colored  servant,  whose  complexion  and  Indian 
garb  struck  the  maids  with  an  awe  not  unmingled  with 
alarm.  John  Thorndyke  could  hardly  believe  that  the 
bent  and  emaciated  figure  was  that  of  his  brother,  but 
he  remembered  the  voice  when  the  latter  said,  holding 
out  his  hand  to  him: 

"  Well,  brother  John,  here  I  am,  what  is  left  of  me. 
Gracious,  man!  who  would  have  thought  that  you  were 
going  to  grow  up  such  a  fine  tall  fellow?  You  are  more 
fitted  to  be  a  soldier  than  I  am.  No,  don't  try  to  help 
me  out;  Eamoo  will  do  that — he  is  accustomed  to  my 
ways,  and  I  would  as  soon  trust  myself  to  a  rogue  elephant 
as  to  you." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  looking  so  bad,  brother  George." 

"  What  must  be  must.  I  have  had  my  fling;  and  after 
thirty  years  of  marching  and  fighting,  I  have  no  right  to 
grumble  if  I  am  laid  upon  my  back  at  last." 

Leaning  on  Ramoo's  arm,  Colonel  Thorndyke  made 
his  way  into  the  house,  and  when  the  Hindoo  had  arranged 
the  cushions  of  the  sofa,  took  his  place  there  in  a  half- 
reclining  position. 

"  I  am  not  always  as  bad  as  this,  John,"  he  said;  "  the 
jolting  of  your  confounded  roads  has  been  too  much  for 
me.  If  I  were  the  King  I  would  hang  every  fellow  who 
had  anything  to  do  with  them — contractors,  boards  of 
county  magistrates,  and  the  whole  lot.  If  I  had  known 
what  it  was  going  to  be  like  I  would  have  hired  a  sedan 
chair,  and  had  myself  carried  down.  That  is  what  1  have 
been  doing  in  London;  but  I  would  rather  have  had  an 


6  QOLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

Indian  palkee,  that  one  could  have  lain  down  comforta- 
bly in." 

"  What  shall  I  get  you  first,  George?  I  have  got  some 
lemons." 

"  I  want  something  better  than  lemons,  John.  Have 
vou  any  Burgundy  handy ?  " ' 

"  Yes,  plenty." 

"  If  you  give  a  bottle  to  Kamoo  he  will  know  how  much 
water  I  want." 

Here  the  servants  entered  with  a  tray  with  a  chicken 
and  a  dish  of  kidneys. 

"I  sent  up  yesterday  for  some  of  the  Indian  things 
that  you  are  accustomed  to,  George,  but  they  have  not 
come  down  yet." 

"  I  brought  a  store  down  with  me.  This  will  do 
capitally  for  the  present.  Eamoo  will  do  the  cooking 
for  me  in  future.  He  need  not  go  into  the  kitchen  to 
scare  the  maids.  I  could  see  they  looked  at  him  as  if  he 
had  been  his  infernal  majesty,  as  he  came  in.  He  can 
do  it  anywhere;  all  he  wants  is  an  iron  pot  with  some 
holes  in  it,  and  some  charcoal.  He  can  squat  out  there 
on  the  veranda,  or,  if  it  is  bad  weather,  any  shed  will 
do  for  him.  Well,  it  is  nice  to  be  home  again,  John,"  he 
went  on,  after  he  had  eaten  a  few  mouthfuls  of  chicken 
and  drunk  a  tumbler  of  Burgundy  and  water.  "  I  am 
glad  to  be  back,  now  I  am  here,  though  I  dare  say  I 
should  not  have  come  home  for  another  ten  years  if  it 
had  not  been  for  this  rascally  bullet.  Where  is  your 
boy?" 

"  He  is  away  at  school." 

"  Well,  I  think  I  will  go  up  to  bed  at  once,  if  you 
don't  mind,  John.  I  shall  be  fitter  to  talk  in  the  morn- 
ing." 

The  next  day,  indeed,  Colonel  Thorndyke  was  materi- 
ally better.  His  voice  was  stronger  and  more  cheery,  and 
when  he  came  down  after  breakfast  he  took  his  seat  in 
an  easy-chair  instead  of  on  the  sofa. 

"  Now,  brother,"  he  said,  "  we  will  have  a  cozy  chat. 
There  are  several  things  I  want  done,  but  the  chief  of 
these  is  that  when  I  am  gone  you  should  go  down  to  Bei- 
gate,  as  I  wanted  you  to  do  ten  years  ago     I  want  you  to 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  7 

seem  to  be  its  master,  as  well  as  be  its  master,  until 
Millicent  comes  of  age,  if  not  longer.  Her  name  is  Milli- 
cent  Conyers  Thorndyke.  I  wish  her  to  be  called  Milli- 
cent Conyers,  and  to  appear  as  your  ward,  and  not  as  your 
niece  and  heiress  cf  the  property.  If  there  is  one  thing 
in  the  world  I  have  a  greater  horror  of  than  another,  it 
is  of  a  girl  being  married  for  her  money.  I  don't  suppose 
that  anyone  knows  that  I  have  a  daughter — at  any  rate, 
none  beyond  a  few  Indian  chums.  She  was  sent  home 
with  an  ayah  under  the  charge  of  the  widow  of  a  comrade 
of  mine.  I  had  been  away  for  months,  and  only  went 
back  to  Calcutta  in  time  to  see  her  mother  die.  So  that 
is  all  right." 

"  I  could  not  do  such  a  thing  as  that,  George.  I  should 
be  living  under  false  colors.  It  is  not  that  I  mind  so 
much  leaving  here  and  looking  after  the  child's  interest 
at  Eeigate,  but  I  could  not  possibly  take  possession  of  the 
place  as  its  owner  when  I  should  not  be  so.  Besides, 
there  are  other  objections.  Mark  would  grow  up  suppos- 
ing himself  to  be  the  heir." 

"  Mark  will  be  all  right.  I  have,  since  I  have  been  in 
London,  signed  a  will,  leaving  the  rest  of  my  fortune  be- 
tween them.  I  had  it  drawn  up  by  our  father's  solicitors, 
relying  upon  your  consent  to  do  what  I  asked  you.  I 
have  explained  the  matter  to  them,  and  given  them  the 
assignment,  or  whatever  they  call  it,  of  the  Reigate  estate 
to  you,  until  my  daughter  comes  of  age,  appointing  them 
her  guardians  should  you  die  before  that.  Thus,  you  will 
be  placed  in  a  proper  position;  and  should  it  be  known  by 
any  means  that  the  child  is  my  daughter,  that  deed  will 
still  be  a  proof  that  you  are  carrying  out  my  wishes,  and 
are  absolute  master  of  the  estate  until  she  comes  of  age." 

"  I  must  think  it  all  over,  George.  It  is  a  singular  pro- 
posal, and  I  own  I  would  rather  things  went  on  in  their 
regular  course." 

"Yes,  yes,  I  understand  that,  John;  but  you  see  I  have 
altogether  set  my  mind  on  this  matter.  I  want  to  know 
that  my  girl  is  not  going  to  be  married  for  her  money; 
and,  at  any  rate,  that  deed  makes  you  master  of  the 
Reigate  estates  for  the  next  thirteen  years;  so  the  only 
thing  that  I  really  want  of  you  is  to  let  the  girl  be  called 


8  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

your  ward  instead  of  your  niece,  and  that  she  and  every- 
one else  shall  be  in  ignorance  that  she  is  an  heiress.  So 
far  from  doing  the  girl  a  wrong,  you  will  be  doing  her  a 
benefit;  and  as  I  have  explained  the  whole  matter  to  our 
lawyers,  no  one  can  possibly  think  that  the  thing  has  been 
done  from  any  motive  whatever  except  that  of  affording 
me  satisfaction." 

"  I  will  think  the  matter  over,"  John  repeated.  "  Of 
course,  brother,  it  has  been  in  your  mind  for  some  time, 
but  it  comes  altogether  fresh  to  me,  and  I  must  look  at 
it  in  every  light.  For  myself,  I  have  no  wish  at  all  to 
become  master  of  our  father's  estate.  I  have  been  going 
in  one  groove  for  the  last  twenty  years,  and  don't  care 
about  changing  it.  You  wished  me  to  do  so  ten  years 
ago,  and  I  declined  then,  and  the  ten  years  have  not  made 
me  more  desirious  of  change  than  I  was  before." 

"  All  right;  think  it  over.  Please  send  Eamoo  in  to 
me;  I  have  tired  myself  in  talking." 

John  Thorndyke  smoked  many  churchwarden  pipes  in 
the  little  arbor  in  his  garden  that  day.  In  the  afternoon 
his  brother  was  so  weak  and  tired  that  the  subject  of  the 
conversation  was  not  reverted  to.  At  eight  o'clock  the 
Colonel  went  off  to  bed.  The  next  morning,  after  break- 
fast, he  was  brighter  again. 

"Well,  John,  what  has  come  of  your  thinking?"  he 
asked. 

"  I  don't  like  it,  George." 

"  You  mayn't  like  it,  John,  but  you  will  do  it.  I  am 
not  going  to  have  my  girl  run  after  by  ruined  spendthrifts 
who  want  her  money  to  repair  their  fortunes;  and  I  tell 
you  frankly,  if  you  refuse  I  shall  go  up  to  town  to-morrow, 
and  I  shall  make  a  new  will,  leaving  all  my  property  to 
your  son,  subject  to  a  life  annuity  of  £200  a  year  to  the 
child,  and  ordering  that,  in  the  event  of  his  dying  before 
he  comes  of  age,  or  of  refusing  to  accept  the  provisions 
of  the  will,  or  handing  any  of  the  property  or  money  over 
to  my  daughter,  the  whole  estate,  money,  jewels,  and  all, 
shall  go  to  the  London  hospitals,  subject,  as  before,  to 
the  annuity. 

"  Don't  be  an  ass,  brother  John.  Do  you  think  that 
I  don't  know  what  I  am  doing?    I  have  seen  enough  of 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE' 8  SECRET.  9 

the  evils  of  marrying  for  money  out  in  India.  Every  ship 
that  comes  out  brings  so  many  girls  sent  out  to  some 
relation  to  be  put  on  the  marriage  market,  and  marrying 
men  old  enough  to  be  pretty  nearly  their  grandfathers, 
with  the  natural  consequence  that  there  is  the  devil  to- 
pay  before  they  have  been  married  a  year  or  two.  Come, 
you  know  you  will  do  it;  why  not  give  in  at  once,  and  have 
done  with  it?  It  is  not  a  bad  thing  for  you,  it  will  be  a 
good  thing  for  your  boy,  it  will  save  my  girl  from  fortune- 
hunters,  and  enable  me  to  die  quietly  and  comfortably." 

"  All  right,  George,  I  will  do  it.  Mind,  I  don't  do  it 
willingly,  but  I  do  it  for  your  sake." 

"  That  is  right,"  Colonel  Thorndyke  said,  holding  out 
his  thin  bronzed  hand  to  his  brother;  "  that  is  off  my 
mind.  Now,  there  is  only  one  other  thing — those  con- 
founded jewels.    But  I  won't  talk  about  them  now." 

It  was  not  indeed  till  three  or  four  days  later  that  the 
Colonel  again  spoke  to  his  brother  on  any  than  ordinary 
matters.  He  had  indeed  been  very  weak  and  ailing. 
After  breakfast,  when,  as  usual,  he  was  a  little  stronger 
and  brighter  than  later  in  the  day,  he  said  to  his  brother 
suddenly: 

"  I  suppose  there  are  no  hiding-places  in  this  room?  " 

"  Hiding-places!     What  do  you  mean,  George?  " 

"  Places  where  a  fellow  could  hide  up  and  hear  what 
we  are  talking  about." 

"  No,  I  don't  think  so,"  the  Squire  replied,  looking 
round  vaguely.  "  Such  an  idea  never  occurred  to  me. 
Why  do  you  ask?  " 

"  Because,  John,  if  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  hiding- 
place,  someone  will  be  sure  to  be  hiding  there.  Where 
does  that  door  lead  to?" 

"It  doesn't  lead  anywhere;  it  used  to  lead  into  the 
next  room,  but  it  was  closed  up  before  my  time,  and 
turned  into  a  cupboard,  and  this  door  is  permanently 
closed." 

"  Do  you  mind  stepping  round  into  the  next  room  and 
seeing  if  anyone  is  in  the  cupboard?  " 

Thinking  that  his  brother  was  a  little  light-headed, 
John  Thorndyke  went  into  the  next  room,  and  returned, 
saying  gravely  that  no  one  was  there. 


10  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"  Will  you  look  behind  the  curtains,  John,  and  under 
this  sofa,  and  everywhere  else  where  even  a  cat  could  he 
hidden.  That  seems  all  right,"  the  Colonel  went  on,  as 
his  brother  continued  the  search.  "  You  know  there  is 
a  saying  that  walls  have  ears,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  it 
is  not  so.  I  have  been  haunted  with  the  feeling  that 
everything  I  did  was  watched,  and  that  everything  I  said 
was  listened  to  for  years;  and  I  can  tell  you  it  is  a 
devilishly  unpleasant  thought.  Draw  your  chair  quite 
close  to  me.  It  is  about  my  jewels,  John.  I  always  had 
a  fancy  for  jewels — not  to  wear  them,  but  to  own  them. 
In  my  time  I  have  had  good  opportunities  in  that  way, 
both  in  the  Madras  Presidency  and  in  the  Carnatic.  In 
the  first  place,  I  have  never  cared  for  taking  presents  in 
money,  but  I  have  never  refused  jewels;  and  what  with 
Eajahs  and  Nabobs  and  Ministers  that  one  had  helped 
or  done  a  good  turn  to  somehow,  a  good  deal  came  to  me 
that  way. 

(t  Then  I  always  made  a  point  of  carrying  money  with 
me,  and  after  a  defeat  of  the  enemy  or  a  successful  siege, 
there  was  always  lots  of  loot,  and  the  soldiers  were  glad 
enough  to  sell  anything  in  the  way  of  jewels  for  a  tithe 
of  their  value  in  gold.  I  should  say  if  I  put  the  value 
of  the  jewels  at  £50,000  I  am  not  much  wide  of  the 
mark.  That  is  all  right,  there  is  no  bother  about  them; 
the  trouble  came  from  a  diamond  bracelet  that  I  got 
from  a  soldier.  We  were  in  camp  near  Tanjore.  I  was 
officer  of  the  day.  I  had  made  my  rounds,  and  was  com- 
ing back  to  my  quarters,  when  I  saw  a  soldier  coming  out 
of  a  tent  thirty  or  forty  yards  away.  It  was  a  moonlight 
night,  and  the  tent  was  one  belonging  to  a  white  Madras 
regiment.  Suddenly,  I  saw  another  figure,  that  had  been 
lying  down  outside  the  tent,  rise.  I  saw  the  flash  of  the 
moonlight  on  steel;  then  there  was  a  blow,  and  the  soldier 
fell.    I  drew  my  sword  and  rushed  forward. 

"  The  native- — for  I  could  see  that  it  was  a  native — was 
bending  over  the  man  he  had  stabbed.  His  back  was 
towards  me,  and  on  the  sandy  soil  he  did  not  hear  my 
footsteps  until  I  was  close  to  him;  then  he  sprang  up 
with  a  cry  of  fury,  and  leaped  on  me  like  a  tiger.  I  was 
so  taken  by  surprise  that  before  I  could  use  my  sword 


COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET.  11 

the  fellow  had  given  me  a  nasty  stab  on  the  shoulder; 
but  before  he  could  strike  again  I  had  run  him  through. 
By  this  time  several  other  men  ran  out  of  the  tent, 
uttering  exclamations  of  rage  at  seeing  their  fallen  com- 
rade. 

"  '  What  is  it,  sir? '  they  asked  me. 

" '  This  scoundrel,  here;  has  stabbed  your  comrade/  I 
said.  •  He  did  not  see  me  coming,  and  I  ran  up  just  as 
he  was,  I  think,  rifling  him  for  booty.  He  came  at  me 
like  a  wild  cat,  and  has  given  me  a  nasty  stab.  How- 
ever, I  have  put  an  end  to  his  game.  Is  your  comrade 
dead?" 

"'No,  sir,  he  is  breathing  still;  but  I  fancy  there  is 
little  chance  for  him.' 

" '  You  had  better  carry  him  to  the  hospital  tent  at 
once;  I  will  send  a  surgeon  there.' 

"  I  called  the  regimental  surgeon  up,  and  went  with 
him  to  the  hospital  tent,  telling  him  what  had  happened. 
He  shook  his  head  after  examining  the  man's  wound, 
which  was  fairly  between  the  shoulders. 

" '  He  may  live  a  few  hours,  but'  there  is  no  chance  of 
his  getting  better.' 

" '  Now,'  I  said,  '  you  may  as  well  have  a  look  at  my 
wound,  for  the  villain  stabbed  me  too.' 

" '  You  have  had  a  pretty  narrow  escape  of  it,'  he  said, 
as  he  examined  it.  '  If  he  had  struck  an  inch  or  two 
nearer  the  shoulder  the  knife  would  have  gone  right  into 
you;  but  you  see  I  expect  he  was  springing  as  he  struck, 
and  the  blow  fell  nearly  perpendicularly,  and  it  glanced 
clown  over  your  ribs,  and  made  a  gash  six  inches  long. 
There  is  no  danger.  I  will  bandage  it  now,  and  to-morrow 
morning  I  will  sew  the  edges  together,  and  make  a  proper 
job  of  it.' 

"  In  the  morning  one  of  the  hospital  attendants  came 
to  me  and  said  the  soldier  who  had  been  wounded  wanted 
to  speak  to  me.  The  doctor  said  he  would  not  live  long. 
I  went  across  to  him.  He  was  on  a  bed  some  little  dis- 
tance from  any  of  the  others,  for  it  was  the  healthy 
season,  and  there  were  only  three  or  four  others  in  the 
tent. 

" '  I  hear,  Major  Thorndyke/  he  said  in  a  low  voice, 


12  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

'  that  you  killed  that  fellow  who  gave  me  this  wound, 
and  that  you  yourself  were  stabbed.' 

"  '  Mine  is  not  a  serious  business,  my  man/  I  said.  c  I 
wish  you  had  got  off  as  easily.' 

"  '  I  have  been  expecting  it,  sir,'  he  said;  '  and  how  I 
came  to  be  fool  enough  to  go  outside  the  tent  by  myself 
I  cannot  think.  I  was  uneasy,  and  could  not  sleep;  I 
felt  hot  and  feverish,  and  came  out  for  a  breath  of  fresh 
air.  I  will  tell  you  what  caused  it,  sir.  About  two  years 
ago  a  cousin  of  mine,  in  one  of  the  King's  regiments,  who 
was  dying,  they  said,  of  fever  (but  I  know  the  doctors 
thought  he  had  been  poisoned),  said  to  me,  "  Here  are 
some  things  that  will  make  your  fortune  if  ever  you  get 
to  England;  but  I  tell  you  beforehand,  they  are  dan- 
gerous things  to  keep  about  you.  I  fancy  that  they  have 
something  to  do  with  my  being  like  this  now.  A  year  ago 
I  went  with  some  others  into  one  of  their  great  temples 
on  a  feast  day.  Well,  the  god  had  got  on  all  his  trinkets, 
and  among  them  was  a  bracelet  with  the  biggest  diamonds 
I  ever  saw.  I  did  not  think  so  much  of  it  at  the  time,  but 
I  kept  on  thinking  of  them  afterwards,  and  it  happened 
that  some  months  after  our  visit  we  took  the  place  by 
storm.  I  made  straight  for  the  temple,  and  I  got  the 
jewels.  It  don't  matter  how  I  got  them — I  got  them. 
Well,  since  that  I  have  never  had  any  peace;  pretty  near 
every  night  one  or  other  of  our  tents  was  turned  topsy- 
turvy, all  the  kits  turned  out,  and  even  the  ground 
dug  up  with  knives.  You  know  how  silently  Indian 
thieves  can  work.  However,  nothing  was  ever  stolen,  and 
as  for  the  diamonds,  at  the  end  of  every  day's  march  I 
always  went  out  as  soon  as  it  was  quite  dark,  and  buried  the 
bracelet  between  the  tent  pegs;  it  did  not  take  a  minute 
to  do.  When  we  moved,  of  course,  I  took  it  up  again.  At 
last  I  gave  that  up,  for  however  early  I  turned  out  in  the 
morning  there  was  sure  to  be  a  native  about.  I  took  then 
to  dropping  it  down  the  barrel  of  my  gun;  that  way  I 
beat  them.  Still,  I  have  always  somehow  felt  myself 
watched,  and  my  tent  has  been  disturbed  a  great  deal 
oftener  than  any  of  the  others.  I  have  had  half  a  mind 
to  throw  the  things  away  many  a  time,  but  I  could  not 
bring  myself  to  do  it." 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  13 

" '  Well,  sir,  I  have  carried  the  bracelet  ever  since.  I 
have  done  as  he  did,  and  always  had  it  in  my  musket 
barrel.  When  we  had  fighting  to  do  I  would  drop  it  out 
into  my  hand  and  slip  it  into  my  ammunition  pouch;  but 
I  know  that  I  have  always  been  followed,  just  as  Bill  was. 
I  suppose  they  found  out  that  I  went  to  see  him  before  he 
died.  Anyhow,  my  tent  has  been  rummaged  again  and 
again.  I  have  no  doubt  that  fellow  whom  you  killed  last 
night  had  been  watching  me  all  the  time,  and  thought 
that  I  had  come  out  to  hide  the  things.  However,  there 
they  are,  sir.  One  of  my  mates  brought  my  musket  here 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  ago,  and  emptied  the  barrel  out  for 
me.  Now,  sir,  you  did  your  best  to  save  my  life  last 
night,  and  you  killed  that  fellow  who  did  for  me,  and 
you  pretty  nearly  got  killed  yourself.  I  have  got  no  one 
else  I  could  give  the  things  to,  and  if  I  were  to  give  them 
to  one  of  my  mates  in  the  regiment  they  would  proba- 
bly cost  him  his  life,  as  they  have  cost  me  mine.  But 
you  will  know  what  to  do  with  the  things;  they  are  worth 
a  lot  of  money  if  you  can  get  them  home.  Mind,  sir, 
you  have  got  to  be  careful.  I  have  heard  tales  of  how 
those  priests  will  follow  up  a  temple  jewel  that  has  been 
lost  for  years,  and  never  give  it  up  until  they  get  it  back 
again.' 

" '  I  ought  to  give  it  up/  I  said. 

"  '  You  don't  know  where  it  came  from,  sir,'  he  replied. 
'  I  was  one  of  a  party  of  convalescents  who  were  sent  up 
just  before  that  fight,  and  my  own  regiment  was  not 
there:  it  might  have  been  here,  and  it  might  have  been 
in  the  Carnatic.  Bill  never  told  me,  and  I  have  no  more 
idea  than  a  babe  unborn.' 

"  The  gems  were  certainly  magnificent;  and  though  I 
knew  well  enough  that  these  untiring  Brahmins  would 
not  be  long  in  guessing  that  the  things  had  come  into 
my  possession,  I  took  the  bracelet.  I  thought,  anyhow, 
that  I  might  have  a  few  hours'  start;  the  fellow  I  had 
killed  might,  of  course,  have  one  or  two  others  with  him, 
but  I  had  to  risk  that.  I  got  leave  an  hour  later,  and 
went  down  to  Madras,  and  got  them  put  into  a  place  of 
safety.  That  I  was  watched  all  the  time  I  was  in  India 
afterwards  I  have  no  doubt,  but  no  attempts  were  made 


14  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

to  assassinate  me.  They  would  have  known  that  I  went 
straight  away,  but  whether  I  had  buried  them  somewhere 
on  the  road,  or  had  given  them  to  someone^s  care  at 
Madras  they  could  not  know,  and  there  was,  therefore, 
nothing  for  them  to  do  but  to  wait  till  I  made  a  move. 

"  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  they  came  over  in  the 
same  ship  with  me.  Two  or  three  times  during  the  week 
I  was  in  London  I  saw  colored  men  in  the  street  outside 
the  hotel.  Once  it  was  a  Lascar  seaman,  another  time 
a  dark-looking  sailor  in  European  clothes:  he  might  pass 
for  a  Spaniard.  Several  times  as  I  was  going  about  in  a 
sedan  chair  I  looked  out  suddenly,  and  each  time  there 
was  a  dark  face  somewhere  in  the  street  behind.  I  had  a 
letter  this  morning  from  the  lawyer,  and  he  mentioned 
that  two  days  ago  his  offices  had  been  broken  into,  and 
every  strong  box  and  drawer  forced  open,  but  that, 
curiously  enough,  they  could  not  find  that  anything  had 
been  stolen,  though  in  the  cashier's  box  there  were  £30 
in  gold.  Of  course  it  was  my  friends.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  one  or  two  of  them  have  followed  me  down  here; 
and  for  anything  I  know  they  may  be  lurking  somewhere 
in  your  garden  at  the  present  moment — that  is,  if  they 
are  not  standing  beside  us  in  this  room." 

John  Thorndyke  looked  round  with  an  uncomfortable 
feeling. 

"  How  do  you  mean,  George?  " 

"  I  mean  some  of  those  Indian  fellows  can  do  all  sorts 
of  wonderful  conjuring  tricks.  I  have  seen  them  go  up 
into  the  air  on  a  rope  and  never  come  down  again,  and 
for  aught  I  know  they  may  be  able  to  render  them- 
selves invisible.  Seriously,  I  think  that  it  is  likelv  as 
not." 

"  Well,  and  where  are  the  things  to  be  found  now, 
George?  " 

"  That  I  won't  tell  you,  John.  Before  I  go  I  will 
whisper  it  in  your  ear,  and  give  you  the  means  of  finding 
them,  but  not  till  then.  ISTo,  I  will  write  it  down  on  a 
piece  of  paper,  and  slip  it  into  your  hand.  As  soon  as 
you  get  out  of  the  room  you  glance  at  it,  and  then  put  the 
piece  of  paper  into  your  moiith,  chew  it  up  and  swallow 
it.     I  tell  you  I  dare  not  even  whisper  it;  but  whatever 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE 'S  SECRET.  15 

you  do,  take  no  steps  in  the  matter  until  your  son  comes 
of  age." 

"  There  can  surely  be  no  danger  in  another  twelve 
years,  George;  they  will  have  given  up  the  search  long 
before  that." 

"  Not  they,"  the  Colonel  said  emphatically.  "  If  they 
die  others  will  take  their  places:  it  is  a  sacred  business 
with  them.  My  advice  to  you  is,  either  sell  them  di- 
rectly you  get  them  into  your  hands,  or  go  straight  to 
Amsterdam  and  sell  them  there  to  one  of  the  diamond 
cutters,  who  will  turn  them  out  so  that  they  will  be 
altered  beyond  all  recognition.  Don't  sell  more  than  two 
stones  at  most  to  any  one  man;  then  they  will  never 
come  out  as  a  bracelet  again,  and  the  hunt  will  be  over." 

"  I  would  almost  rather  leave  them  alone  altogether, 
George." 

"  Well,  they  are  worth  £50,000  if  they  are  worth  a 
penny,  and  a  great  deal  more,  I  should  say;  but  you  can- 
not leave  them  alone  without  leaving  everything  alone, 
for  all  my  gems  are  with  them,  and  £52,000  in  g-ld.  Of 
course,  if  you  like  you  can,  when  you  get  the  box,  pick 
those  diamonds  out  and  chuck  them  away,  but  if  you  do 
you  must  do  it  openly,  so  that  anyone  watching  you  may 
see  you  do  it,  otherwise  the  search  will  go  on." 

Two  days  later,  as  Kamoo  was  helping  the  Colonel  to 
the  sofa,  the  latter  was  seized  with  a  violent  fit  of  cough- 
ing, then  a  rush  of  blood  poured  from  his  lips.  His 
brother  and  Eamoo  laid  him  on  the  sofa  almost  in- 
sensible. 

"  Eun  and  get  some  water,  Ramoo,"  John  Thorndyke 
said. 

As  Ramoo  left  the  room  the  Colonel  feebly  placed  bis 
snuffbox  in  his  brother's  hand  with  a  significant  glance; 
then  he  made  several  desperate  efforts  to  speak,  and 
tried  to  struggle  up  into  a  sitting  position;  another  gush 
of  blood  poured  from  him,  and  as  it  ceased  he  fell  back 
dead. 

John  Thorndyke  was  bitterly  grieved  at  the  death  of 
his  brother,  and  it  was  not  until  he  went  up  to  his  room 
that  night  that  he  thought  of  the  snuffbox  that  he  had 
dropped  into  his  pocket  as  his  brother  handed  it  to  him. 


16  COLONEL   TEOBNDYKES  SECRET. 

He  had  no  doubt  that  it  contained  the  instructions  as  to 
the  treasure.  It  was  of  Indian  manufacture.  He  emptied 
the  snuff  from  it,  but  it  contained  nothing  else.  He  was 
convinced  that  the  secret  must  be  hidden  there,  and  after 
in  vain  endeavoring  to  find  a  spring,  he  took  a  poker  and 
hammered  it,  and  as  it  bent  a  spring  gave  way,  and  showed 
a  very  shallow  false  bottom. 

In  this  was  a  thin  gold  coin,  evidently  of  considerable 
antiquity,  and  a  small  piece  of  paper,  on  which  was  writ- 
ten the  word  "  Masulipatam."  John  Thorndyke  looked 
at  it  in  bewilderment;  that  it  was  connected  with  the 
secret  he  felt  certain,  but  alone  it  was  absolutely  useless. 
Doubtless  his  brother  had  intended  to  give  him  the  key 
of  the  riddle  when  he  had  so  desperately  striven  to  speak. 
After  in  vain  thinking  the  matter  over  he  said: 

"  Well,  thank  goodness,  there  is  nothing  to  be  done 
about  the  matter  for  another  thirteen  or  fourteen  years; 
it  is  of  no  use  worrying  about  it  now."  He  went  to  an 
old-fashioned  cabinet,  and  placed  the  coin  and  piece  of 
paper  in  a  very  cunningly  devised  secret  drawer.  The 
next  morning  he  went  out  into  the  garden  and  dropped  the 
battered  snuffbox  into  the  well,  and  then  dismissed  the 
subject  from  his  mind. 


CHAPTER  IT 

Standing  some  two  miles  out  of  Eeigate  is  the  Tillage 
of  Crowswood,  a  quiet  place  and  fairly  well-to-do,  thanks 
in  no  small  degree  to  Squire  Thorndj^ke,  who  owned  the 
whole  of  the  parish,  and  by  whom  and  his  tenants  the 
greater  portion  of  the  village  were  employed. 

Greatly  had  the  closing  of  the  Manor  House,  after  the 
death  of  old  Squire  Thorndyke,  been  felt.  There  were 
no  more  jellies,  soups,  and  other  comforts  to  be  looked 
for  in  time  of  sickness,  no  abatement  of  rent  when  the 
breadwinner  was  sick  or  disabled,  no  check  to  the  drunk- 
ards, whom  the  knowledge  that  they  would  be  turned  out 
of  their  cottage  at  a  week's  notice  kept  in  some  sort  of 
order.  When,  therefore,  after  ten  years  of  absence  of 
all  government,  John  Thorndyke,  after  the  death  of  his 
brother,  the  Colonel,  came  down  and  took  possession,  he 
found  the  place  sadly  changed  from  what  it  had  been 
when  he  had  left  it  twenty  years  before.  His  first  act  was 
to  dismiss  Newman,  who,  completely  unchecked,  had,  he 
found,  been  sadly  mismanaging  affairs. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  his  hand  made  itself 
felt.  Two  out  of  the  three  public  houses  were  shut  up  in 
six  months,  a  score  of  their  habitual  frequenters  had, 
weeks  before,  been  turned  out  of  their  houses,  an  order 
had  been  issued  that  unless  a  cottage  was  kept  in  good 
order  and  the  garden  bright  and  blooming  with  flowers 
in  the  summer  a  fresh  tenant  would  be  found  for  it. 
Every  child  must  be  sent  to  the  village  school;  the  Squire 
was  ready  to  do  what  there  was  to  be  done  in  the  way  of 
thatching  and  whitewashing,  repairing  palings  and  paint- 
ing doors  and  windows,  but,  as  he  told  the  people,  the  vil- 
lage had  to  be  kept  clean  and  decent,  and  anyone  who 
would  not  conform  to  the  rules  was  at  liberty  to  leave 
without  a  day's  notice. 

Many  of  the  villagers  grumbled  under  their  breath,  but 

17 


18  COLONEL  THORNDYKE*  S  SECRET. 

public  opinion  was,  on  the  whole,  favorable.  There  was 
someone  to  look  after  them  now,  someone  who  would  see 
that  the  geater  portion  of  the  wages  was  not  spent  at 
the  alehouse,  who  would  take  an  interest  in  the  people, 
and  would  lend  a  helping  hand  in  bad  times.  There  was 
a  feeling  of  regret  that  the  Squire  was  a  widower,  but 
the  post  of  visitor  and  almoner  was  well  supplied  by  the 
lady  who  acted  as  companion  and  governess  to  the 
Squire's  little  ward  and  regulated  the  affairs  of  his 
household. 

John  Thorndyke  had  never  had  much  occasion  for  the 
display  of  energy  before,  but  he  had  an  abundance  of  it, 
although  hitherto  latent.  He  had  come  into  this  business 
against  his  will,  but  he  took  it  up  with  a  determination 
to  do  well  in  it.  The  income  was  legally  his  until  his 
niece  came  of  age,  but  he  was  determined  he  would  take 
nothing  out  of  the  estate  beyond  the  necessary  expenses 
of  the  position,  and  that  all  surplus  should  be  expended 
in  improving  it  in  every  way  possible,  so  that  he  could 
hand  it  over  to  her  in  the  most  perfect  condition.  There- 
fore, when  he  came  into  possession  he  made  a  close  in- 
spection of  the  farms,  with  their  houses,  barns,  and  other 
tenements.  Where  he  saw  that  the  men  were  doing  their 
best,  that  the  hedges  and  fields  were  in  good  order,  he 
did  everything  that  was  necessary  without  a  word;  but 
where  there  were  slovenly  farming  and  signs  of  neglect  and 
carelessness,  he  spoke  out  his  mind  sharply. 

"  This  has  all  got  to  be  amended,"  he  said.  "  What 
must  be  done  I  will  do,  but  unless  I  see  things  well  kept 
up,  the  fences  in  good  order,  the  hedges  cut,  the  cattle  in 
good  condition,  and  everything  going  on  as  it  ought  to 
be,  out  you  go  next  Christmas.  The  estate  at  present  is 
a  disgrace  to  the  county,  but  it  shall  not  be  so  any  longer 
if  1  can  help  it.  I  shall  do  my  share,  and  anyone  who  is 
not  prepared  to  do  the  same  had  better  look  out  for 
another  holding  at  once." 

No  one  rejoiced  more  at  the  coming  home  of  the  Squire 
than  Mr.  Bastow,  the  Rector.  He  had  had  a  pleasant 
time  of  it  during  the  life  of  the  old  Squire.  He  was 
always  a  welcome  guest  at  the  house;  Mr.  Thorndyke  had 
been  every  ready  to  put  his  hand  into  his  pocket  for  any 


COLONEL   THORNBTKE'S  SECRET.  19 

repairs  needed  for  the  church,  and  bore  on  his  shoulders 
almost  the  entire  expense  of  the  village  school.  In  the 
latter  respect  there  had  been  no  falling  off,  he  having 
given  explicit  instructions  to  his  soldiers  to  pay  his  usual 
annual  subscriptions  to  the  school  until  his  son's  return 
from  India.  But  with  the  death  of  the  Squire  the  Eector 
had  gradually  lost  all  authority  in  the  village. 

For  a  time  force  of  habit  had  had  its  effect,  but  as  this 
wore  out  and  the  people  recognized  that  he  had  no  real 
authority  things  went  from  bad  to  worse.  Drunken  men 
would  shout  jeeringly  as  they  passed  the  Eectory  on  their 
way  home  from  the  alehouse;  women  no  longer  feared 
reproof  for  the  untidiness  of  their  houses  and  children; 
the  school  was  half  emptied  and  the  church  almost 
wholly  so. 

For  seven  or  eight  years  Mr.  Bastow  had  a  hard  time 
of  it.  It  was,  then,  both  with  pleasure  as  an  old  friend, 
and  with  renewed  hopefulness  for  the  village,  that  he 
visited  John  Thorndyke  on  his  return. 

The  change  in  the  state  of  affairs  was  almost  instanta- 
neous. As  soon  as  it  became  known  that  the  Eector 
was  backed,  heart  and  soul,  by  the  Squire's  authority,  and 
that  a  complaint  from  him  was  followed  the  next  day  by 
a  notice  to  quit  at  the  end  of  a  week,  his  own  authority 
was  established  as  firmly  as  it  had  been  in  the  old  Squire's 
time,  and  in  a  couple  of  years  Orowswood  became  quite 
a  model  village.  Every  garden  blossomed  with  flowers; 
roses  and  eglantine  clustered  over  the  cottages,  neatness 
and  order  prevailed  everywhere.  The  children  were  tidily 
dressed  and  respectful  in  manner,  the  women  bright  and 
cheerful,  and  the  solitary  alehouse  remaining  had  but  few 
customers,  and  those  few  were  never  allowed  to  transgress 
the  bounds  of  moderation.  The  Squire  had  a  talk  with  the 
landlord  a  fortnight  after  his  arrival. 

"  I  am  not  going  to  turn  you  out,  Peters,"  he  said.  "  I 
hear  that  you  make  some  efforts  to  keep  your  house  de- 
cently; the  other  two  I  shall  send  packing  directly  their 
terms  are  up.  Whether  you  remain  permanently  must 
depend  upon  yourself.  I  will  do  up  your  house  for  you, 
and  build  a  bar  parlor  alongside,  where  quiet  men  can  sit 
and  smoke  their  pipes  and  talk  and  take  their  beer  in 


20  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET 

comfort,  and  have  liberty  to  enjoy  themselves  as  long  as 
their  enjoyment  does  not  cause  annoyance  to  other  peo- 
ple or  keep  their  wives  and  children  in  rags.  I  will  do 
anything  for  you  if  I  find  the  place  well  conducted;  but 
I  warn  you  that  I  will  have  no  drunkenness.  A  man  who, 
to  my  knowledge,  gets  drunk  twice,  will  not  get  drunk  a 
third  time  in  this  parish,  and  if  3rou  let  men  get  drunk 
here  it  is  your  fault  as  much  as  theirs.  Now  we  under- 
stand each  other." 

Things  once  placed  on  a  satisfactory  footing,  the  Squire 
had  but  little  more  trouble,  and  it  soon  came  to  be  under- 
stood that  he  was  not  to  be  trifled  with,  and  that  Crows- 
wood  was  no  longer  a  place  for  thelidle  or  shiftless.  Two 
or  three  of  the  farmers  left  at  the  termination  of  their 
year,  but  better  men  took  their  places,  and  John  Thorn- 
dyke,  having  settled  matters  to  his  satisfaction,  now  began 
to  attend  more  to  other  affairs.  He  hrfd  been,  when  _he 
first  came  back,  welcomed  with  great  heartiness  by  all  the 
gentry  of  the  neighborhood;  his  father  had  been  a  popu- 
lar man,  and  young  Thorndyke  had  been  regarded  as  a 
pleasant  young  fellow,  and  would  in  any  case  have  been 
welcomed,  if  only  because  Crowswood  had  become  a 
nuisance  to  the  whole  district.  It  was,  indeed,  a  sort  of 
rendezvous  for  poachers  and  bad  characters,  it  was  more 
than  suspected  that  gangs  of  thieves  and  burglars  made 
it  their  headquarters,  and  that  even  highwaymen  found 
it  a  convenient  and  quiet  resort. 

Thus,  then,  the  transformation  effected  within  a  few 
months  of  Mr.  Thorndyke's  return  caused  general  and 
lively  satisfaction,  and  a  year  later  he  was  put  on  the 
Commission  of  the  Peace,  and  became  one  of  the  most 
regular  attendants  at  the  Bench  of  Magistrates.  Ee- 
luctantly  as  he  had  taken  up  his  present  position,  he 
found  it,  as  time  went  on,  a  pleasant  one.  He  had  not 
been  conscious  before  that  time  hung  somewhat  heavily 
on  his  hands,  but  here  he  had  duties  to  perform  and  am- 
ple employment.  His  nature  was  naturally  somewhat  a 
masterful  one,  and  both  as  a  magistrate  and  a  landlord 
he  had  scope  and  power  of  action.  Occasionally  he  went 
up  to  London,  always  driving  his  gig,  with  a  pair  of  fast 
trotting  horses,  and  was  known  to  the  frequenters  of  the 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  21 

coffee-houses  chiefly  patronized  by  country  gentlemen. 
Altogether,  John  Thorndyke  became  quite  a  notable  per- 
son in  the  district,  and  men  were  inclined  to  congratu- 
late themselves  upon  the  fact  that  he,  and  not  the  Indian 
officer,  his  brother,  had  come  into  the  estate. 

The  idea  of  an  old  Indian  officer  in  those  days  was  that 
he  was  almost  of  necessity  an  invalid,  and  an  irritable 
one,  with  a  liver  hopelessly  deranged,  a  yellow  com- 
plexion, and  a  hatred  of  the  English  climate.  The  fact 
that,  instead  of  leaving  the  army  and  coming  home  at  his 
father's  death,  George  Thorndyke  had  chosen  to  remain 
abroad  and  leave  the  estate  to  the  management  of  agents, 
had  specially  prejudiced  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  of 
that  part,  and  had  heightened  the  warmth  with  which 
they  had  received  his  brother.  John  Thorndyke  had 
upon  the  occasion  of  his  first  visit  to  the  family  solicitors 
spoken  his  mind  with  much  freedom  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  Newman  had  been  allowed  a  free  hand. 

"  Another  ten  years,"  he  said,  "  and  there  would  not 
have  been  a  cottage  habitable  on  the  estate,  nor  a  farm 
worth  cultivating.  He  did  absolutely  nothing  beyond 
collecting  the  rents.  He  let  the  whole  place  go  to  rack 
and  ruin.  The  first  day  I  arrived  I  sent  him  out  of  the 
house,  with  a  talking-to  that  he  won't  forget  as  long  as 
he  lives." 

"  We  never  heard  any  complaints  about  him,  Mr. 
Thorndyke,  except  that  I  think  we  did  once  hear  from 
the  Eector  of  the  place  that  his  conduct  was  not  satis- 
factory. I  remember  that  we  wrote  to  him  about  it,  and 
he  said  that  the  Eector  was  a  malignant  fellow,  on  bad 
terms  with  all  his  parishioners." 

"  If  I  had  the  scoundrel  here,"  John  Thorndyke  said 
with  indignation,  "  I  would  let  him  have  a  taste  of  the 
lash  of  my  dog-whip.  You  should  not  have  taken  the 
fellow's  word;  you  should  have  sent  down  someone  to 
find  out  the  true  state  of  things.  Why,  the  place  has 
been  an  eyesore  to  the  whole  neighborhood,  the  resort 
of  poaching,  thieving  rascals;  by  gad,  if  my  brother 
George  had  gone  down  there  I  don't  know  what  would 
have  happened!  It  will  cost  a  couple  of  years'  rent  to 
get  things  put  straight." 


22  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

When  the  Squire  was  at  home  there  was  scarce  an  even- 
ing when  the  Eector  did  not  come  up  to  smoke  a  pipe  and 
take  his  glass  of  old  Jamaica  or  Hollands  with  him. 

"  Look  here,  Bastow,"  the  latter  said,  some  three  years 
after  his  return,  "  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  that 
boy  of  yours?  I  hear  bad  reports  of  him  from  everyone; 
he  gets  into  broils  at  the  alehouse,  and  I  hear  that  he 
consorts  with  a  bad  lot  of  fellows  down  at  Reigate.  One 
of  my  tenants — I  won't  mention  names — complained  to 
me  that  he  had  persecuted  his  daughter  with  his  atten- 
tions. They  say  he  was  recognized  among  that  poaching 
gang  that  had  an  affray  with  Sir  James  Hartrop's  keepers. 
The  thing  is  becoming  a  gross  scandal." 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  do  about  him,  Squire;  the  boy 
has  always'  been  a  trouble  to  me.  You  see,  before  you 
came  home,  he  got  into  bad  hands  in  the  village  here. 
Of  course  they  have  all  gone,  but  several  of  them  only 
moved  as  far  as  Reigate,  and  he  kept  up  their  acquaint- 
ance. I  thrashed  him  again  and  again,  but  he  has  got 
beyond  that  now,  you  see;  he  is  nearly  eighteen,  and 
openly  scoffs  at  my  authority.  Upon  my  word,  I  don't 
know  what  to  do  in  the  matter." 

"  He  is  growing  up  a  thorough  young  ruffian,"  the 
Squire  said  indignantly,  "  and  one  of  these  mornings  I 
expect  to  see  him  brought  up  before  us  charged  with 
some  serious  offense.  We  had  to  fine  him  last  week  for 
being  drunk  and  making  a  disturbance  down  at  Reigate. 
Why  do  you  let  him  have  money?  You  may  have  no 
authority  over  him,  but  at  least  you  should  refuse  to 
open  your  purse  to  him.  Don't  you  see  that  this  sort  of 
thing  is  not  only  a  disgrace  to  him,  but  very  prejudicial 
to  the  village?  What  authority  can  you  have  for  speak- 
ing against  vice  and  drunkenness,  when  your  son  is  con- 
stantly intoxicated?" 

"  I  see  that,  Squire — none  better;  and  I  have  thought 
of  resigning  my  cure." 

"  Stuff  and  nonsense.  Parson!  If  the  young  fellow 
persists  in  his  present  course  he  must  leave  the  village, 
that  is  clear  enough;  but  that  is  no  reason  why  you 
should.  The  question  is  what  is  to  be  done  with  him? 
The  best  thing  he  could  do  would  be  to   enlist.     He 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE' S  SECRET.  23 

might  be  of  some  service  to  his  country,  in  India  or  the 
American  Colonies,  but  so  far  as  I  can  see  he  is  only 
qualifying  himself  for  a  jail  here." 

"  I  have  told  him  as  much,  Squire,"  Mr.  Bastow  said, 
in  a  depressed  voice,  "  and  he  has  simply  laughed  in  my 
face,  and  said  that  he  was  very  comfortable  where  he  was, 
and  had  no  idea  whatever  of  moving." 

"  What  time  does  he  go  out  in  the  morning?  "  John 
Thorndyke  asked  abruptly. 

"  He  never  gets  up  till  twelve  o'clock,  and  has  his 
breakfast  when  I  take  my  dinner." 

"  Well,  I  will  come  in  to-morrow  morning  and  have  a 
talk  with  him  myself." 

The  next  day  the  Squire  rode  up  to  the  door  of  the 
Rectory  soon  after  one  o'clock.  Mr.  Bastow  had  just 
finished  his  meal;  his  sou,  a  young  fellow  of  between 
seventeen  and  eighteen,  was  lolling  in  an  easy-chair. 

"I  have  come  in  principally  to  speak  to  you,  young 
sir,"  John  Thorndyke  said  quietly.  "  I  have  been  asking 
your  father  what  you  intend  to  do  with  yourself.  He 
says  he  does  not  know." 

The  young  fellow  looked  up  with  an  air  of  insolent 
effrontery. 

"  I  don't  know  that  it  is  any  business  of  yours,  Mr. 
Thorndyke,  what  T  do  with  myself." 

"  Oh,  yes,  it  is,"  the  Squire  replied.  "  This  village 
and  the  people  in  it  are  mine.  You  are  disturbing  the 
village  with  your  blackguard  conduct;  you  are  annoying 
some  of  the  girls  on  the  estate,  and  altogether  you  are 
making  yourself  a  nuisance.  I  stopped  at  the  alehouse  as 
I  came  here,  and  have  ordered  the  landlord  to  draw  no 
more  liquor  for  you,  and  unless  you  amend  your  conduct, 
and  that  quickly,  I  will  have  you  out  of  the  village 
altogether." 

"  I  fancy,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  that,  even  as  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  you  have  not  the  power  to  dictate  to  my  father 
who  shall  be  the  occupant  of  this  house." 

"  What  you  say  is  perfectly  true;  but  as  you  make  your 
father's  life  a  burden  to  him,  and  lie  is  desirous  of  your 
absence,  I  can  and  will  order  the  village  constable  to  re- 
move you  from  his  house  by  force,  if  necessary." 


24  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

The  young  fellow  cast  an  evil  glance  at  his  father. 

"  He  has  not  been  complaining,  has  he  ?  "  he  said,  with 
a  sneer. 

"  He  has  not,  sir,"  John  Thorndyke  said  indignantly. 
"  It  is  I  who  have  been  complaining  to  him,  and  he  admits 
that  you  are  altogether  beyond  his  authority.  I  have 
pointed  out  to  him  that  he  is  in  no  way  obliged  to  support 
you  at  your  age  in  idleness  and  dissipation,  and  that  it 
were  best  for  him  and  all  concerned  that  he  should  close 
his  doors  to  you.  I  don't  want  to  have  to  send  the  son  of 
my  old  friend  to  prison,  but  I  can  see  well  enough  that 
that  is  what  it  will  come  to  if  you  don't  give  up  your  evil 
courses.  I  should  think  you  know  by  this  time  that  I 
am  a  man  of  my  word.  I  have  taken  some  pains  to  purge 
this  village  of  all  bad  characters,  and  I  do  not  intend  to 
have  an  exception  made  of  the  son  of  the  clergyman,  who, 
in  his  family  as  well  as  in  his  own  person,  is  bound  to  set 
an  example." 

"  Well,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  I  utterly  decline  to  obey  your 
orders  or  to  be  guided  by  your  advice." 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  the  magistrate  said  sternly.  "  Mr. 
Bastow,  do  I  understand  that  you  desire  that  your  son 
shall  no  longer  remain  an  inmate  of  your  house?  " 

"  I  do,"  the  clergyman  said  firmly;  "  and  if  he  does  so  I 
have  no  other  course  before  me  but  to  resign  my  liv- 
ing: my  position  here  has  become  absolutely  unbear- 
able." 

"  Very  well,  sir,  then  you  will  please  lock  your  doors 
to-night,  and  if  he  attempts  to  enter,  I,  as  a  magistrate, 
should  know  how  to  deal  with  him.  Now,  young  sir,  you 
understand  your  position;  you  may  not  take  my  advice, 
nevertheless,  I  shall  give  it  you.  The  best  thing  you  can 
do  is  to  take  your  place  for  town  on  the  outside  of  the 
coach  that  comes  through  Eeigate  this  afternoon,  and 
to-morrow  morning  proceed  either  to  the  recruiting  offi- 
cer for  His  Majesty's  service,  or  to  that  for  the  East  India 
Company's.  You  have  health  and  strength,  you  will  get 
rid  at  once  of  your  bad  associates,  and  will  start  afresh 
in  a  life  in  which  you  may  redeem  your  past  and  be  useful 
to  your  king  and  country." 

Young  Bastow  smiled. 


COLONEL   THOBNDYKE'S  SECRET.  25 

"  Thanks,"  he  said  sarcastically.  "  I  have  my  own 
plans,  and  shall  follow  them." 

"  I  think,  Mr.  Bastow,"  the  Squire  said  quietly,  "  it 
would  just  be  as  well  for  you  to  come  home  with  me.  I 
don't  think  that  the  leave-taking  is  likely  to  be  an  affec- 
tionate one." 

The  Eector  rose  at  once. 

"  I  will  come  with  you,  Squire.  I  may  tell  you  now, 
what  I  have  not  told  you  before,  that  my  son  has  more 
than  once  raised  his  hand  against  me,  and  that  I  do  not 
care  to  be  left  alone  with  him." 

"  I  judged  him  capable  even  of  that,  Mr.  Bastow." 

"  Good-by,  Arthur,"  his  father  said.  "  My  heart  is 
ready  to  break  that  it  has  come  to  this;  but  for  both  our 
sakes  it  is  better  so.  Good-by,  my  son,  and  may  Heaven 
/ead  you  to  better  ways!  If  ever  you  come  to  me  and 
say,  '  Father,  I  have  turned  over  a  new  leaf,  and  heartily 
repent  the  trouble  I  have  caused  you,'  you  will  receive  a 
hearty  welcome  from  me,  and  no  words  of  reproach  for 
the  past." 

The  young  man  paid  no  attention  to  the  offered  hand, 
but  laughed  scornfully. 

"  You  have  not  got  rid  of  me  yet,"  he  said.  "  As  for 
you,  Squire  Thorndyke,  I  shall  not  forget  your  meddle- 
some interference,  and  some  day,  mavbe,  you  will  be  sorry 
for  it." 

"  I  think  not,"  John  Thorndyke  said  gravely.  "  I  am 
doing  my  duty  to  the  village,  and  still  more  I  am  doing 
my  duty  to  an  old  friend,  and  I  am  not  likely  ever  to 
feel  any  regret  that  I  have  so  acted.  Now,  Parson,  let's 
be  off." 

After  leaving  the  house  with  the  clergyman,  the  Squire 
stopped  at  the  house  of  Knapp,  the  village  constable,  and 
said  a  few  words  to  him,  then,  leading  his  horse,  walked 
home  with  Mr.  Bastow. 

"  Don't  be  cast  down,  old  friend,"  he  said.  "  It  is  a 
terrible  trial  to  you;  but  it  is  one  sharp  wrench,  and  then 
it  will  be  over.  Anything  is  better  than  what  you  must 
have  been  suffering  for  some  time." 

"  I  quite  feel  that,  Squire;  my  life  has  indeed  been 
intolerable  of  late.     I  had  a  painful  time  before,  but 


26  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

always  looked  forward  with  hope  to  your  brother  coming 
home.  Since  you  returned,  and  matters  in  the  parish 
have  been  put  straight,  this  trouble  has  come  in  to  take 
the  place  of  the  other,  and  I  have  felt  that  I.  would 
rather  resign  and  beg  for  charity  than  see  my  son  going 
from  bad  to  worse,  a  scandal  to  the  parish,  and  a  hindrance 
to  all  good  work." 

"  It  is  a  bad  business,  Bastow,  and  it  seems  to  me  that 
two  or  three  years  in  prison  would  be  the  best  thing  for 
him,  as  he  will  not  take  up  the  only  trade  open  to  him. 
At  any  rate,  it  would  separate  him  from  his  evil  associates, 
and  give  you  peace  while  he  is  behind  the  bars.  Where 
does  he  get  his  money?  " 

"  That  I  know  not,  Squire.  He  takes  some  from  me 
■ — it  used  to  be  done  secretly,  now  it  is  done  with  threats, 
and,  as  I  told  you,  with  violence — but  that  would  not 
account  for  his  always  having  money.  He  must  get  it 
somewhere  else,  for  when  I  have  paid  my  bills,  as  I  always 
do  the  hour  that  I  receive  money,  there  is  but  little  over 
for  him  to  take.  He  is  often  away  all  night,  sometimes 
for  two  or  three  days  together,  and  I  dare  not  think  what 
he  does  with  himself;  but  certainly  he  gets  money  some- 
how, and  I  am  afraid  that  I  cannot  hope  it  is  honestly 
obtained." 

"  I  do  not  well  see  how  it  can  be,"  the  Squire  agreed. 
"  If  I  had  before  known  as  much  as  jrou  tell  me  now,  I 
would  have  taken  some  steps  to  have  him  watched,  and 
to  nip  the  matter  before  it  went  too  far.  Do  you  think 
that  he  will  take  your  notice,  and  come  no  more  to  the 
house? " 

Mr.  Bastow  shook  his  head. 

"  I  fear  that  the  only  effect  will  be  to  make  him  worse; 
even  when  he  was  quite  a  small  boy  punishment  only 
had  that  effect  with  him.  He  will  come  back  to-night 
probably  half-drunk,  and  certainly  furious  at  my  having 
ventured  to  lay  the  case  before  you." 

"  You  must  lock  the  doors  and  bar  the  windows." 

"  I  did  that  when  he  first  took  to  being  out  at  night, 
but  he  always  managed  to  get  in  somehow." 

"  Well,  it  must  be  all  put  a  stop  to,  Bastow;  and  I  will 
come  back  with  you  this  evening,  and  if  this  young  rascal 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  27 

breaks  into  the  house  I  will  have  hirn  down  at  Eeigate 
to-morrow  on  the  charge  of  housebreaking;  or,  at  any  rate, 
I  will  threaten  to  do  so  if  he  does  not  give  a  promise  that 
he  will  in  future  keep  away  from  you  altogether." 

"  I  shall  be  glad,  at  any  rate,  if  you  will  come  down, 
Squire,  for,  to  say  the  truth,  I  feel  uneasy  as  to  the  steps 
he  may  take  in  his  fury  at  our  conversation  just  now." 

John  Thorndyke  took  down  from  a  wall  a  heavy  hunt- 
ing-whip, as  he  went  out  with  the  parson  at  nine  o'clock. 
He  had  in  vain  endeavored  to  cheer  his  old  friend  as  they 
sat  over  their  steaming  glasses  of  Jamaica.  The  parson 
had  never  been  a  strong  man;  he  was  of  a  kindly  disposi- 
tion, and  an  unwearied  worker  when  there  was  an  oppor- 
tunity for  work,  but  he  had  always  shrunk  from  unpleas- 
antness, and  was  ready  to  yield  rather  than  bring  about 
trouble.  He  had  for  a  long  time  suffered  in  silence,  and 
had  not  the  Squire  himself  approached  the  subject  of  his 
son's  delinquencies,  he  would  have  never  opened  his  mouth 
about  it.  Now,  however,  that  he  had  done  so,  and  the 
Squire  had  taken  the  matter  in  hand,  and  had  laid  down 
what  was  to  be  done,  though  he  trembled  at  the  prospect, 
he  did  not  even  think  of  opposing  his  plan,  and  indeed 
could  think  of  no  alternative  for  it. 

"  I  have  told  John  Knapp  to  be  here,"  the  Squire  said, 
as  they  reached  the  house.  "  It  is  just  as  well  that  he 
should  be  present  if  your  son  comes  back  again.  He  is 
a  quiet,  trustworthv  fellow,  and  will  keep  his  mouth  shut 
if  I  tell  him." 

Mr.  Bastow  made  no  reply.  It  was  terrible  to  him 
that  there  should  be  another  witness  to  his  son's  conduct, 
but  he  saw  that  the  Squire  was  right. 

An  old  woman  opened  the  door. 

"  Are  all  the  shutters  closed  and  barred?  "  John  Thorn- 
dvke  asked  her. 

"  Yes,  sir;  I  always  sees  to  that  as  soon  as  it  gets  dark." 

"  Very  well;  you  can  go  to  bed  now,  Eliza,"  her  master 
paid.    "Is  John  Knapp  here?" 

"  Yes,  he  came  an  hour  ago,  and  is  sitting  in  the 
kitchen." 

"*1  will  call  him  in  myself  when  I  want  to  speak  to 
him."  '  * 


28  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

As  soon  ar.  the  old  servant  had  gone  upstairs  the  Squire 
went  into  tli';  kitchen,  Mr.  Bastow  having  gone  to  the 
■cellar  to  fetch  up  a  bottle  of  old  brandy  that  was  part  of 
a  two-dozen  case  given  to  him  by  the  old  Squire  fifteen 
years  before. 

"  Do  you  go  round  the  house,  John,  and  see  that  every- 
thing is  properly  fastened  up.  I  see  that  you  have  got  a 
jug  of  beer  there.  You  had  better  get  a  couple  of  hours' 
sleep  on  that  settle.  I  shall  keep  watch  till  I  am  sleepy, 
and  then  I  will  call  you.  Let  me  know  if  you  find  any  of 
the  doors  or  windows  unbarred." 

Five  minutes  later  the  constable  knocked  at  the  door  of 
the  parlor. 

"  The  door  opening  into  the  stable-yard  was  unbarred, 
Squire." 

"  I  thought  it  likely  that  it  would  be  so,  Knapp.  You 
have  made  it  fast  now,  I  suppose?  That  is  right.  Now 
lie  down  and  get  an  hour  or  two  of  sleep;  it  is  scarce 
likely  that  he  will  be  back  until  late.  That  was  the  old 
woman,  of  course,"  he  went  on  to  his  companion,  when 
the  door  closed  behind  the  constable.  "  I  thought  it 
likely  enough  that  he  might  tell  her  to  leave  a  way  for 
him  to  come  in.  You  told  me  that  she  had  been  with  you 
a  good  many  years.  I  dare  say  she  has  left  that  door 
unbarred  for  him  many  a  time.  I  should  advise  you  to 
get  a  man  to  sleep  in  the  house  regularly;  there  are  plenty 
of  fellows  who  will  be  glad  to  do  it  for  a  shilling  or  two 
a  week,  and  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  safe  for  you  to  be 
here  alone." 

An  hour  later  he  said  to  the  Eector: 

"  Now,  Bastow,  you  had  best  go  to  bed.  I  have  taken 
the  matter  into  my  own  hands,  and  will  carry  it  through. 
However,  I  won't  have  him  taken  away  without  your 
being  present,  and  will  call  you  when  we  want  you.  Of 
course,  if  he  will  give  a  solemn  promise  not  to  molest 
you,  and,  even  if  he  won't  enlist,  to  leave  this  part  of  the 
country  altogether,  I  shall  let  him  off." 

"  There  is  one  thing,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  that  I  have  n/>t 
told  you,"  the  Eector  said  hesitatingly.  "  Sometimes, 
when  he  comes  home  late,  he  brings  someone  with  him; 
I  have  heard  voices  downstairs.    I  have  never  seen  who 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  29 

it  was — for  what  could  I  have  done  if  I  went  down? — but 
I  have  heard  ^orses  brought  round  to  the  stable-yard,  and 
heard  them  ride  away." 

"  It  is  just  as  well  you  told  me,"  the  Squire  said  dryly. 
"  If  you  had  told  me  this  evening  at  the  house,  I  would 
have  dropped  a  brace  of  pistols  into  my  pocket.  How- 
ever, this  hunting  crop  is  a  good  weapon;  but  I  don't 
suppose  they  will  show  fight,  even  if  anyone  is  with  him. 
Besides,  Knapp  has  a  stout  oaken  cudgel  with  him — I 
noticed  it  standing  against  his  chair  as  I  went  in — and  as 
he  is  a  strong  active  fellow,  and  we  shall  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  surprise,  I  fancy  we  should  be  a  match  even, 
for  three  or  four  of  them." 

At  one  o'clock  the  Squire  roused  John  Knapp. 

"  It  is  one  o'clock,  John;  now  take  off  your  boots.  I 
don't  want  him  to  know  that  there  is  anyone  in  the 
house  till  we  get  hold  of  him.  I  am  going  to  lie  down 
on  the  sofa  in  the  parlor.  The  moment  you  hear  foot- 
steps you  come  and  wake  me." 

The  clock  in  the  kitchen  had  just  struck  two  when  the 
constable  shook  John  Thorndyke. 

"  There  are  two  horses  just  coming  into  the  yard." 

"  All  right.  I  opened  a  window  in  the  room  looking 
down  into  the  yard  before  I  lay  down.  I  will  go  up  and 
see  what  they  are  going  to  do.  If  they  try  to  break  in 
anywhere  down  here,  do  you  come  at  once  quietly  up 
to  me." 

The  Squire  had  taken  off  his  boots  before  he  lay  down, 
and,  holding  his  heavy  hunting  crop  in  his  hand,  he  went 
quietly  upstairs.  As  he  went  to  the  window  he  heard 
Arthur  Bastow  say  angrily: 

"  Confound  the  old  woman!  she  has  locked  the  door; 
she  has  never  played  me  that  trick  before.  There  is  a 
ladder  in  the  stable,  and  I  will  get  in  at  that  window  up 
there  and  open  it  for  you.  Or  you  may  as  well  come  up 
that  way,  too,  and  then  you  can  stow  the  things  away  in 
my  room  at  once,  and  have  done  with  it." 

The  Squire  went  hastily  down. 

"  Come  upstairs,  Knapp,"  he  whispered  to  the  consta- 
ble. "  There  are  three  of  them,  and  I  fancy  the  two 
mounted  men  are  highwaymen.     Let  them  all  get  in, 


30  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

keeping  yourself  well  back  from  the  window.  The  moon 
is  round  on  the  other  side  of  the  house,  but  it  will  be  light 
enough  for  us  to  see  them  as  they  get  in.  I  will  take  the 
last  fellow,  and  I  will  warrant  that  he  will  give  no 
trouble;  then  I  will  fall  upon  the  second,  and  do  you 
spring  on  young  Bastow.  The  two  highwaymen  are  sure 
to  have  pistols,  and  he  may  have  some  also.  Give  him 
a  clip  with  that  cudgel  of  yours  first,  then  spring  on  him, 
and  hold  his  arms  tightly  by  his  side.  If  I  call  you  give 
him  a  back  heel  and  throw  him  smartly,  and  then  come 
to  my  aid.  I  don't  think  I  shall  want  it,  but  it  is  as  well 
to  prepare  for  everything." 

They  went  upstairs  and  took  their  places,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  window,  standing  three  or  four  feet  back. 
Just  as  they  took  up  their  positions  the  top  of  the  stable 
ladder  appeared  above  the  sill  of  the  window.  Half 
a  minute  later  young  Bastow's  head  appeared,  and  he 
threw  up  the  sash  still  higher,  and  stepped  into  the  room; 
then  he  turned  and  helped  two  men  in,  one  after  the 
other. 

"  Follow  me,"  he  said,  "  then  you  won't  tumble  over 
the   furniture." 

As  they  turned,  the  heavy  handle  of  John's  Thorndyke's 
whip  fell  with  tremendous  force  on  the  head  of  the  last 
man. 

"  What  the  devil  is  that?  "  the  other  exclaimed,  snatch- 
ing out  a  pistol  and  turning  round,  as  the  falling  body 
struck  him,  but  he  got  no  further.  Again  the  heavy 
whip  descended,  this  time  on  his  right  arm;  it  dropped 
useless  by  his  side,  and  the  pistol  fell  from  his  hand. 
Then  John  Thorndyke  fell  upon  him  and  bore  him  to  the 
ground,  snatched  the  other  pistol  from  his  belt,  and  held 
it  to  his  head. 

"  JSTow,  my  man,"  he  said  quietly,  "  if  you  don't  sur- 
render I  will  blow  out  your  brains." 

, "  I  surrender,"  the  man  moaned.  "  I  believe  that 
you  have  broken  my  arm.  Curse  you,  whoever  you 
are." 

The  struggle  between  John  Knapp  and  young  Bastow 
was  soon  over.  The  young  felloAV  was  lithe  and  sinewy, 
but  he  was  no  match  for  the  constable,  who,  indeed,  had 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  31 

almost  overpowered  him  before  he  was  aware  what  had 
happened. 

"Has  he  got  pistols,  Knapp?"  the  Squire  asked. 

"  Yes,  sir,  a  brace  of  them;  I  have  got  them  both  safely 
in  my  pocket.  There,"  he  went  on,  as  a  sharp  click  was 
heard,  "  I  have  got  the  darbys  on  him.  Now  shall  I 
help  you,  sir?" 

"  You  had  better  run  downstairs  first  and  light  a  couple 
of  candles  at  the  kitchen  fire:  you  will  find  a  pair  stand- 
ing on  the  parlor  table.  Don't  be  long  about  it;  the  first 
fellow  I  hit  was  stunned,  and  he  may  come  round  any 
moment." 

"  I  will  make  sure  of  him  before  I  go,  Squire.  I  have 
got  another  pair  of  darbys  in  my  pocket." 

As  soon  as  he  had  fastened  these  upon  the  wrists  of  the 
insensible  man  he  ran  downstairs,  and  in  a  minute  re- 
turned with  the  candles. 

"  I  am  glad  that  you  are  back,"  the  Squire  said.  "  I 
was  afraid  that  young  rascal  would  try  to  escape." 

"  I  took  good  care  of  that,  Squire;  you  see  I  put  one 
of  his  arms  round  the  bedpost  before  I  slipped  the  darbys 
on,  and  he  cannot  get  away  unless  he  takes  the  whole 
bed  with  him;  and  as  I  don't  think  he  would  get  it  out 
either  by  the  window  or  the  door,  he  is  as  safe  here  as 
he  would  be  in  Newgate.  What  is  the  next  thing  to  do, 
Squire?" 

"You  had  better  tie  this  fellow's  legs.  I  will  leave 
you  a  candle  here,  and  you  can  keep  guard  over  them 
while  I  go  and  wake  Mr.  Bastow." 

The  Rector  needed  no  waking;  he  was  walking  up  and 
down  his  room  in  great  distress.  He  had  not  undressed, 
but  had  thrown  himself  upon  his  bed. 

"What  has  happened,  Thorndyke?"  he  asked  as  the 
Squire  entered.  "  I  heard  two  heavy  falls,  and  I  felt  that 
something  terrible  had  taken  place." 

"  Well,  it  has  been  a  serious  matter — very  serious. 
That  unfortunate  son  of  yours  is  not  hurt,  but  I  don't 
know  hut  that  the  best  thing  that  could  have  happened 
would  have  been  for  him  to  have  got  a  bullet  through 
his  head.  He  brought  home  with  him  two  men  who  are, 
I  have  little  doubt,  highwaymen;  anyhow,  they  each  had 


32  COLONEL   TEOBNDTZE'S  SECRET. 

a  brace  of  pistols  in  their  belt,  and  from  what  he  said  I 
think  they  have  been  stopping  a  coach.  At  any  rate, 
they  have  something  with  them  that  they  were  going  to 
hide  here,  and  I  fancy  it  is  not  the  first  time  that  it  has 
been  done.  I  don't  expect  yonr  son  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  robbery,  though  he  was  carrjdng  a  brace  of  pis- 
tols, too;  however,  we  have  got  them  all  three. 

"  Now,  you  see,  Bastow,  this  takes  the  affair  altogether 
out  of  our  hands.  I  had  hoped  that  when  we  caught 
your  son  in  the  act  of  breaking  into  your  house  after  you 
had  ordered  him  from  it,  we  should  be  able  to  frighten 
him  into  enlisting,  or,  at  any  rate,  into  promising  to  dis- 
turb you  no  more,  for  even  if  we  had  taken  him  before 
the  bench,  nothing  could  have  been  done  to  him,  for 
under  such  circumstances  his  re-entering  the  house  could 
not  be  looked  upon  as  an  act  of  burglary.  As  it  is,  the 
affair  is  altogether  changed.  Even  if  I  wished  to  do  so, 
as  a  magistrate  I  could  not  release  those  two  highway- 
men; they  must  appear  as  prisoners  in  court.  I  shall  hear 
down  in  the  town  to-morrow  morning  what  coach  has 
been  stopped,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  have  on  them 
the  proceeds  of  the  robbery.  Your  son  was  consorting 
with  and  aiding  them,  and  acting  as  a  receiver  of  stolen 
goods,  and  as  you  have  heard  horses  here  before  it  is 
probable  that  when  his  room  is  thoroughly  searched  we 
shall  come  upon  a  number  of  articles  of  the  same  sort. 
I  am  sorry  that  I  ever  meddled  in  the  matter;  but  it  is  to* 
late  for  that  now.  You  had  better  come  downstairs  with 
me,  and  we  will  take  a  turn  in  the  garden,  and  try  to  see 
what  had  best  be  done." 


CHAPTEE  III. 

John  Thorndyke  opened  the  shutters  of  the  parlor 
window,  and  stepped  out  into  the  garden  alone,  for  the 
Rector  was  too  unnerved  and  shattered  to  go  out  with 
him,  but  threw  himself  on  the  sofa,  completely  prostrated. 
Half  an  hour  later  the  Squire  re-entered  the  room.  The 
morning  was  just  beginning  to  break.  Mr.  Bastow  raised 
his  head  and  looked  sadly  at  him. 

"  I  can  see  no  way  out  of  it,  old  friend.  Were  it  not 
that  he  is  in  charge  of  the  constable,  I  should  have  said 
that  your  only  course  was  to  aid  your  son  to  escape;  but 
Knapp  is  a  shrewd  fellow  as  well  as  an  honest  one.  You 
cannot  possibly  get  your  son  away  without  his  assistance, 
for  he  is  handcuffed  to  the  bed,  and  Knapp.  in  so  serious 
a  matter  as  this,  would  not,  I  am  sure,  lend  himself  to  an 
escape.  I  have  no  doubt  that  with  my  influence  with  the 
other  magistrates,  and,  indeed,  on  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  they  will  commit  him  on  a  minor  charge  only, 
as  the  passengers  of  the  coach  will,  I  hope,  give  evidence 
that  it  was  stopped  by  mounted  men  alone.  I  think, 
therefore,  that  he  would  only  be  charged  with  consorting 
with  and  aiding  the  highwaymen  after  the  event,  and  of 
aiding  them  to  conceal  stolen  goods — that  is,  if  any  are 
found  in  his  room. 

"  That  much  stolen  property  has  been  hidden  there, 
there  is  little  reason  to  doubt,  but  it  may  have  been  re- 
moved shortly  afterwards.  It  was,  of  course,  very  con- 
venient for  them  to  have  some  place  where  they  could 
take  things  at  once,  and  then  ride  on  quietly  to  London 
the  next  day,  for,  if  arrested,  nothing  would  be  found 
upon  them,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  connect  them 
witli  the  robbery.  Later  on  they  might  come  back  again 
ond  get  them  from  him.  Of  course,  if  nothing  is  found 
in  his  room,  we  get  rid  of  the  charge  of  receiving  alto- 
gether, and  there  would  be  nothing  but  harboring,  aiding, 

33 


84  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

and  abetting — a  much  less  serious  business.  Look  here, 
old  friend,  I  will  strain  a  point.  I  will  go  out  into  the 
garden  again  and  walk  about  for  an  hour,  and  while  I 
am  out,  if  you  should  take  advantage  of  my  absence  to 
creep  up  to  your  son's  room  and  to  search  it  thoroughly, 
examining  every  board  of  the  floor  to  see  if  it  is  loose, 
and  should  you  find  anything  concealed,  to  take  it  and 
hide  it,  of  course  I  cannot  help  it.  The  things,  if  there 
are  any,  might  secretly  be  packed  up  by  you  in  a  box 
and  sent  up  to  Bow  Street,  with  a  line  inside,  saying  that 
they  are  proceeds  of  robbery,  and  that  you  hope  the 
owners  will  be  traced  and  their  property  restored  to  them. 
Not,  of  course,  in  your  own  hand,  and  without  a  signature. 
There  might  be  some  little  trouble  in  managing  it,  but  it 
could,  no  doubt,  be  done." 

John  Thorndyke  went  out  into  the  garden  without 
another  word.  The  hour  was  nearly  up  when  Mr.  Bastow 
came  out;  he  looked  ten  years  older  than  he  had  done  on 
the  previous  day.    He  wrung  his  friend's  hand. 

"  Thank  God  I  have  been  up  there,"  he  said.  "  I  do 
not  think  they  will  find  anything." 

"  Say  nothing  about  it,  Bastow;  I  don't  want  to  know 
whether  you  found  anything.  Now  I  am  going  to  fetch 
two  or  three  of  the  men  from  the  village,  to  get  them  to 
aid  the  constable  in  keeping  guard,  and  another  to  go  up 
to  the  house  at  once  and  order  a  groom  to  saddle  one  of 
my  horses  and  bring  it  here." 

As  it  was  now  past  five  o'clock,  and  the  Squire  found 
most  of  the  men  getting  up,  he  sent  one  off  to  the  house 
with  the  message,  and  returned  with  two  others  to  the 
Rectory.  He  told  them  briefly  that  two  highwaymen  had 
been  arrested  during  the  night,  and  that  as  young  Mr. 
Bastow  was  in  their  compan}^  at  the  time,  it  had  been 
necessary  as  a  matter  of  form  to  arrest  him  also.  He 
went  upstairs  with  them. 

"  I  have  brought  up  two  men  to  sit  with  you,  Knapp, 
until  the  Reigate  constables  come  up.  You  can  take 
those  handcuffs  off  Mr.  Bastow,  but  see  that  he  does  not 
leave  the  room,  and  do  you  yourself  sit  in  a  chair  against 
the  door,  and  place  one  of  these  men  at  the  window.  How 
about  the  others?^ 


COLONEL  TH0RND7KE  S  SECRET.  35 

"  The  man  you  hit  first,  Squire,  did  not  move  until  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  ago;  he  has  been  muttering  to  himself 
since,  but  I  don't  think  he  is  sensible.  The  other  one 
has  been  quiet  enough,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  his  arm 
is  broken." 

"  I  am  going  to  ride  down  to  Eeigate  at  once,  and  will 
bring  back  a  surgeon  with  me." 

"  You  will  repent  this  night's  business,  Thorndyke," 
Arthur  Bastow  said  threateningly. 

"  I  fancy  that  you  will  repent  it  more  than  I  shall, 
Bastow;  it  is  likely  that  you  will  have  plenty  of  time  to 
do  so." 

It  was  not  long  before  the  groom  with  the  horse  ar- 
rived. John  Thorndyke  rode  at  a  gallop  down  to  Eeigate, 
and  first  called  on  the  head  constable. 

"  Dawney,"  he  said,  as  the  man  came  down,  partially 
dressed,  at  his  summons,  "  has  anything  taken  place  dur- 
ing the  night?  " 

"  Yes,  Squire,  the  up  coach  was  stopped  a  mile  before 
it  got  here,  and  the  passengers  robbed.  It  was  due  here 
at  one,  and  did  not  come  in  till  half  an  hour  later.  01 
course  I  was  sent  for.  The  guard  was  shot.  There  werc 
two  of  the  fellows.  He  let  fly  with  his  blunderbuss,, 
but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  hit  either  of  them,  and  one 
rode  up  and  shot  him  dead;  then  they  robbed  all  the  pas- 
sengers. They  got  six  gold  watches,  some  rings,  and, 
adding  up  the  amounts  taken  from  all  the  passengers, 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  in  money." 

"  Well,  I  fancy  I  have  got  your  two  highwaymen  safe, 
Dawney." 

"  You  have,  sir?  "  the  constable  said  in  astonishment. 

"  Yes.  I  happened  to  be  at  the  Rectory.  Mr.  Bastow 
had  had  a  quarrel  with  his  son,  and  had  forbidden  him 
the  house." 

The  constable  shook  his  head. 

"  I  am  afraid  he  is  very  bad  one,  that  young  chap." 

"  I  am  afraid  he  is,  Dawney.  However,  his  father  was 
afraid  that  he  might  come  in  during  the  night  and  make 
a  scene,  so  I  said  I  would  stop  with  him,  and  I  took  our 
village  constable  with  me.  At  two  o'clock  this  morning 
the  young  fellow  came  with  two  mounted  men,  who,  I 


36  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

have  no  doubt,  were  highwaymen.  We  had  locked  up 
down  below.  Bastow  took  a  ladder,  and  the  three  got  in 
at  a  bedroom  window  on  the  first  floor.  Knapp  and  I 
were  waiting  for  them  there,  and,  taking  them  by  sur- 
prise, succeeded  in  capturing  them  before  the  highway- 
men could  use  their  pistols.  The  constable  and  two  men 
are  looking  after  them,  but  as  one  has  not  got  over  a 
knock  I  gave  him  on  the  head,  and  the  other  has  a 
broken  arm,  there  is  little  fear  of  their  making  their 
escape.  You  had  better  go  up  with  two  of  your  men, 
and  take  a  light  cart  with  you  with  some  straw  in  the 
bottom,  and  bring  them  all  down  here.  I  will  ride  round 
myself  to  Mr.  Chetwynde,  Sir  Charles  Harris,  and  Mr. 
Merchison,  and  we  will  sit  at  twelve  o'clock.  You  can 
send  round  a  constable  with  the  usual  letters  to  the  others, 
but  those  three  will  be  quite  enough  for  the  preliminary 
examination." 

"  Well,  Squire,  that  is  good  news  indeed.  We  have 
had  the  coach  held  up  so  often  within  five  miles  of  this 
place  during  the  past  three  months,  that  we  have  been 
getting  quite  a  bad  name.  And  to  think  that  young 
Bastow  was  in  it!  I  have  heard  some  queer  stories  about 
him,  and  fancied  before  long  I  should  have  to  put  my 
hand  upon  his  shoulder;  but  I  didn't  expect  this." 

"  There  is  not  a  shadow  of  proof  that  he  had  anything 
to  do  with  the  robbery,  Dawney,  but  he  will  have  diffi- 
culty in  proving  that  he  did  not  afterwards  abet  them. 
It  is  serious  enough  as  it  is,  and  I  am  terribly  grieved 
for  his  father's  sake." 

"  Yes,  sir;  I  have  always  heard  him  spoken  of  as  a 
kind  gentleman,  and  one  who  took  a  lot  of  trouble  when- 
ever anyone  was  sick.  Well,  sir,  I  will  be  off  in  twenty 
minutes.  I  will  run  round  at  once  and  send  Dr.  Hewett 
up  to  the  Eectory,  and  a  man  shall  start  on  horseback  at 
seven  o'clock  T?ith  the  summons  to  the  other  magis- 
trates." 

John  Thorndyke  rode  round  to  his  three  fellow-magis- 
trates, who,  living  nearest  to  the  town,  were  most  regular 
in  their  attendance  at  the  meetings.  They  all  listened 
in  surprise  to  his  narrative,  and  expressed  great  pleasure 
at  hearing  that  the  men  who  had  been  such  a  pest  to  the 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'8  SECRET.  37 

neighborhood,  and  had  caused  them  all  personally  a 
great  deal  of  trouble,  had  been  captured.  All  had  heard 
tales,  too,  to  Arthur  Bastow's  disadvantage,  and  expressed 
great  commiseration  for  his  father.  They  agreed  to 
meet  at  the  court  half  an  hour  before  business  began,  to 
talk  the  matter  over  together. 

"  It  is  out  of  the  question  that  we  can  release  him  on 
bail,"  the  gentleman  who  was  chairman  of  the  bench  said. 

"  Quite  so,"  John  Thorndyke  agreed.  "  In  the  first 
place,  the  matter  is  too  serious;  and  in  the  next,  he  cer- 
tainly would  not  be  able  to  find  bail;  and  lastly,  for  his 
father's  sake,  it  is  unadvisable  that  he  should  be  let  out. 
At  the  same  time,  it  appears  to  me  that  there  is  a  broad 
distinction  between  his  case  and  the  others.  I  fear  that 
there  can  be  no  question  that  he  had  prior  acquaintance 
with  these  men,  and  that  he  was  cognizant  of  the  whole 
business;  something  I  heard  him  say,  and  which,  to  my 
regret,  I  shall  have  to  repeat  in  court,  almost  proves 
that  he  was  so.  Still,  let  us  hope  none  of  the  stolen 
property  will  be  found  upon  him;  whether  they  had  in- 
tended to  pass  it  over  to  his  care  or  not  is  immaterial. 
If  they  had  not  done  so,  I  doubt  whether  he  could  be 
charged  with  receiving  stolen  goods,  and  we  might  make 
the  charge  simply  one  of  aiding  these  two  criminals,  and 
of  being  so  far  an  accessory  after  the  crime. 

"  If  we  could  soften  it  down  still  further  I  should,  for 
his  father's  sake,  be  glad;  but  as  far  as  he  himself  is  con- 
cerned, I  would  do  nothing  to  lighten  his  punishment. 
He  is  about  as  bad  a  specimen  of  human  nature  as  I  ever 
came  across.  His  father  is  in  bodily  fear  of  him.  I  saw 
the  young  fellow  yesterday,  and  urged  him  to  enlist,  in 
order  to  break  himself  loose  from  the  bad  companionship 
he  had  fallen  into.  His  reply  was  insolent  and  defiant  in 
the  highest  degree,  and  it  was  then  that  in  his  father's 
name  I  forbade  him  the  house,  and  as  his  father  was  pres- 
ent he  confirmed  what  I  said,  and  told  him  that  he  would 
not  have  anything  more  to  do  with  him.  This  affair  may 
do  him  good,  and  save  his  neck  from  a  noose.  A  few 
years  at  the  hulks  or  a  passage  to  Botany  Bay  will  do  him 
no  harm;  and,  at  any  rate,  his  father  will  have  rest  and 
peace,  which  he  never  would  have  if  he  remained  here." 


38  COLONEL  TRORNBYEE'3  SECRET 

A  somewhat  similar  conversation  took  place  at  each 
house.  John  Thorndyke  breakfasted  at  Sir  Charles 
Harris',  the  last  of  the  three  upon  whom  he  called,  and 
then  mounting  rode  back  to  Eeigate. 

"  We  have  found  the  plunder  on  them/'  the  head  con- 
stable said,  coming  out  of  the  lock-up  as  he  drew  rein 
before  it,  "  and,  fortunately  for  young  Bastow,  nothing 
was  found  upon  him." 

"  How  are  the  two  men  ?  " 

"  The  fellow  you  hit  first  is  conscious  now,  sir,  but  very 
weak.  The  doctor  says  that  if  he  hadn't  had  a  thick  hat 
on,  your  blow  would  have  killed  him  to  a  certainty.  The 
other  man's  arm  is  set  and  bandaged,  and  he  is  all  right 
otherwise.  We  shall  be  able  to  have  them  both  in  court 
at  twelve  o'clock." 

The  Squire  rode  up  to  his  house.  He  was  met  at  the 
door  by  his  son,  in  a  state  of  great  excitement. 

"  Is  it  all  true,  father  ?  The  news  has  come  from  the 
village  that  you  have  killed  two  men,  and  that  they  and 
Arthur  Bastow  have  all  been  taken  away  in  a  cart, 
guarded  by  constables." 

"  As  usual,  Mark,  rumor  has  exaggerated  matters. 
There  are  no  dead  men;  one  certainly  got  a  crack  on  the 
head  that  rendered  him  insensible  for  some  time,  and 
another's  arm  is  broken." 

"And  are  they  highwaymen,  father?  They  say  that 
two  horses  were  fastened  behind  the  cart." 

"  That  is  what  we  are  going  to  try,  Mark.  Until  their 
guilt  is  proved,  no  one  knows  whether  they  are  highway- 
men or  not." 

"  And  why  is  Arthur  Bastow  taken,  father?  " 

"  Simply  because  he  was  in  company  with  the  others. 
Now,  you  need  not  ask  any  more  questions,  but  if  you 
like  to  get  your  pony  saddled  and  ride  down  with  me  to 
Eeigate  at  eleven  o'clock,  I  will  get  you  into  the  court- 
house, and  then  you  will  hear  all  about  it." 

At  greater  length  the  Squire  went  into  the  matter  with 
Mrs.  Cunningham,  his  lady  housekeeper,  and  his  ward's 
governess. 

"  It  is  a  bad  business,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  she  said,  "  and 
must  be  terrible  for  poor  Mr.  Bastow." 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  39 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  bad  business  altogether,  except  that  it 
will  rid  him  of  this  young  rascal.  If  I  were  in  his  place  I 
should  be  ready  to  suffer  a  good  deal  to  obtain  such  a 
riddance/' 

"  I  suppose  that  you  won't  sit  upon  the  bench  to- 
day?" 

"  No;  at  least  I  shall  take  no  part  in  the  deliberations. 
I  shall,  of  course,  give  evidence.  The  affair  is  not  likely 
to  last  very  long;  my  story  will  take  the  longest  to  tell. 
Knapp's  will  be  confirmatory  of  mine,  and  the  Eeigate 
constable  will  depose  to  finding  the  watches,  rings,  and 
money  upon  them;  then,  of  course,  the  case  will  be  ad- 
journed for  the  attendance  of  the  coachman  and  some 
of  the  passengers.  I  don't  suppose  they  will  be  able  to 
swear  to  their  identity,  for  no  doubt  they  were  masked. 
But  that  is  immaterial;  the  discovery  of  the  stolen  prop- 
erty upon  them  will  be  sufficient  to  hang  them.  No  doubt 
we  shall  have  some  Bow  Streets  runners  down  from  town 
to-morrow  or  next  day,  and  they  will  most  likely  be  able 
to  say  who  the  fellows  are." 

"  Will  Mr.  Bastow  have  to  give  evidence  against  his 
son?" 

"  Not  before  us,  I  think;  but  I  imagine  he  will  have  to 
appear  at  the  trial." 

"  It  will  be  terrible  for  him." 

"Yes,  terrible.  I  sincerely  hope  that  they  will  not 
summon  him,  but  I  am  afraid  that  there  is  very  little 
doubt  about  it;  they  are  sure  to  want  to  know  about  his 
son's  general  conduct,  though  possibly  the  testimony  on 
that  point  of  the  constable  at  Eeigate  will  be  sufficient. 
My  own  hope  is  that  he  will  get  a  long  sentence;  at  any 
rate,  one  long  enough  to  insure  his  not  coming  back 
during  his  father's  lifetime.  If  you  had  seen  his  manner 
when  we  were  talking  to  him  yesterday,  you  would  believe 
that  he  is  capable  of  anything.  I  have  had  a  good  many 
bad  characters  before  me  during  the  year  and  a  half  that 
I  have  sat  upon  the  bench,  but  I  am  bound  to  say  that  I 
never  saw  one  who  was  to  my  eyes  so  thoroughly  evil  as 
this  young  fellow.  I  don't  think,"  he  added  with  a  smile, 
"  that  1  should  feel  quite  comfortable  myself  if  he  were 
acquitted;  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  I  shall  forget  the 


40  COLONEL  THORNDYKE' 8  SECRET. 

expression  of  his  face  when  he  said  to  me  this  morning, 
*  You  will  repent  this  night's  work,  Thorndyke.'  " 

"  You  don't  mean  that  you  think  he  would  do  you  any 
harm,  Mr.  Thorndyke  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  should  not  care  to  meet  him  in  a  lonely  place 
if  he  was  armed  and  I  was  not.  But  you  need  not  be 
nervous,  Mrs.  Cunningham,  there  is  not  the  smallest 
chance  of  his  being  out  for  years;  and  by  that  time  his 
blood  will  have  had  time  to  cool  down,  and  he  will  have 
learnt,  at  any  rate,  that  crimes  cannot  be  committed  in 
this  country  with  impunity." 

"  It  is  all  very  shocking,"  the  lady  said.  "  What  will 
poor  Mr.  Bastow  do?  I  should  think  that  he  would  not 
like  to  remain  as  clergyman  here,  where  everyone  knows 
about  it." 

"  That  must  be  for  him  to  decide,"  the  Squire  said; 
"  but  if  he  wishes  to  resign  I  certainly  shall  not  press 
him  to  continue  to  hold  the  living.  He  is  a  very  old 
friend  of  mine.  My  father  presented  the  living  to  him 
when  I  was  nine  or  ten  years  old,  and  I  may  say  I  saw 
him  daily  up  to  the  time  when  I  went  down  into  Sussex. 
If  he  resigns  I  should  urge  him  to  take  up  his  residence 
here  and  to  act  as  Mark's  tutor;  and  he  might  also 
relieve  you  of  some  of  Millicent's  lessons.  You  have 
plenty  to  do  in  looking  after  the  management  of  things 
in  general.    However,  that  is  for  the  future." 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  Squire  drove  down  to  Eeigate, 
taking  Mark  with  him,  as  it  would  save  all  trouble  about 
putting  up  the  horse  and  pony. 

On  arriving  he  handed  Mark  over  to  the  head  eon- 
stable,  and  asked  him  to  pass  him  into  a  seat  in ,  the 
courthouse,  before  the  public  were  let  in.  Eeigate  was 
in  a  state  of  unusual  excitement.  That  the  coach  should 
have  been  stopped  and  robbed  was  too  common  an  event- 
to  excite  much  interest,  but  that  two  highwaymen  should 
have  been  captured,  and,  as  was  rumored,  a  young  gen- 
tleman brought  in  on  a  charge  of  being  in  connection 
with  them,  caused  a  thrill  of  excitement.  Quite  a 
small  crowd  was  assembled  before  the  courthouse,  and 
the  name  of  Squire  Thorndyke  passed  from  mouth  tc 
mouth. 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  41 

"  There  is  some  talk  of  his  being  mixed  up  with  it  in 
some  way  or  other,"  one  said.  "  I  saw  him  myself  ride 
in  here,  about  half-past  five,  and  I  wondered  he  was  about 
so  early.  Some  do  say  as  he  caught  the  two  highway- 
men single-handed;  but  that  don't  stand  to  reason.  Be- 
sides, what  could  he  have  been  doing  out  at  such  an 
hour  as  that?  He  is  a  good  landlord,  and  they  say  that 
Crowswood  has  been  quite  a  different  place  since  he  came 
to  be  master.  He  is  a  tight  hand  as  a  magistrate,  and 
cleared  out  half  the  village  the  first  two  or  three  months 
he  was  there;  but  he  spent  a  mint  of  money  on  the  place, 
and  the  people  there  say  that  they  could  not  have  a  better 
master.  Ah,  here  is  Squire  Chetwynd.  He  was  sure  to  be 
here.  There  is  Sir  Charles'  gig  turning  the  corner.  I 
expect  most  of  them  will  be  on  the  bench;  they  don't  get 
such  a  case  as  this  every  day." 

"  It  may  be  there  will  be  nothing  for  us  to  hear  when 
the  court  opens,"  another  said.  "  I  hear  both  the  fellows 
have  been  shot  or  knocked  about  so  bad  that  they  cannot 
be  brought  up.  Of  course  the  court  cannot  sit  if  they 
aint  before  it." 

"  That  is  not  so,  Master  Jones.  I  spoke  to  one  of  the 
constables  half  an  hour  ago — he  lives  next  door  to  me — 
and  he  said  that  they  would  be  well  enough  to  appear. 
Neither  of  them  have  been  shot,  though  they  have  been 
hurt  pretty  bad." 

All  this  added  to  the  desire  of  those  around  to  get  into 
the  eourt,  and  there  was  quite  a  rush  when  the  doors 
were  opened  two  minutes  before  twelve,  and  it  was  at 
once  crammed,  the  constable  having  some  difficulty  in 
getting  the  doors  shut,  and  in  persuading  those  who 
could  not  get  in  that  there  was  not  standing-room  for 
another  person.  There  was  a  buzz  of  talk  in  court  until 
the  door  opened  and  six  magistrates  came  in.  It  was 
observed  that  John  Thorndyke  did  not  seat  himself  with 
the  others,  but  moved  his  chair  a  little  apart  from  them, 
thus  confirming  the  report  that  he  was  in  some  way  con- 
nected with  the  matter,  and  did  not  intend  to  take  any 
part  in  the  decision. 

Then  another  door  opened,  and  the  three  prisoners 
were  brought  in.    The  two  first  were  pale  and  evidently 


42  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

weak;  one  had  his  head  wrapped  in  bandages,  the  other 
had  the  right  sleeve  of  his  coat  cut  off,  and  his  arm  hand- 
aged  and  supported  by  a  sling. 

Both  made  a  resolute  effort  to  preserve  a  careless  de- 
meanor. The  third,  who  was  some  years  younger  than 
the  others,  looked  round  with  a  smile  on  his  lips,  bowed 
to  the  magistrates  with  an  air  of  insolent  bravado  when 
he  was  placed  in  the  dock,  and  then  leaned  easily  in  the 
corner,  as  if  indifferent  to  the  whole  business.  A  chair 
was  placed  between  his  comrades  for  the  use  of  the  man 
whose  head  was'  bandaged.  Many  among  those  present 
knew  Arthur  Bastow  by  sight,  and  his  name  passed  from 
mouth  to  mouth;  but  the  usher  called  loudly  for  silence, 
and  then  the  magistrates'  clerk  rose. 

"  William  Smith  and  John  Brown — at  least,  these  are 
the  names  given — are  charged  with  stopping  the  South 
Coast  coach  last  night,  killing  the  guard,  and  robbing 
the  passengers;  and  Arthur  Bastow  is  charged  with  aiding 
and  abetting  the  other  two  prisoners,  and  with  guilty 
knowledge  of  their  crime." 

It  was  noticed  by  those  who  could  see  the  prisoners' 
faces  that,  in  spite  of  Bastow's  air  of  indifference,  there 
was  an  expression  of  anxiety  on  his  face  as  the  charge  was 
read,  and  he  undoubtedly  felt  relief  as  that  against  him- 
self was  mentioned.  The  first  witness  was  John  Knapp, 
and  the  constable  stepped  into  the  witness-box. 

"What  do  you  know  of  this  business,  Knapp?"  the 
chairman  asked.     "  Just  tell  it  your  own  way." 

"  I  am  constable  of  Crowswood,  your  honor,  and  yester- 
day Squire  Thorndyke  said  to  me " 

"  No,  you  must  not  tell  it  like  that,  Knapp;  you  must 
not  repeat  what  another  person  said  to  you.  You 
can  say  that  from  information  received  you  did  so 
and  so." 

"  Yes,  your  honor.  From  information  received  I  went 
to  the  Eev.  Mr.  Bastow's  house,  at  a  quarter  to  nine  last 
night.  At  nine  o'clock  Squire  Thorndyke  and  the  Parson 
came  in  together.  They  sent  the  servant  up  to  bed,  and 
then  the  Squire  sent  me  round  to  examine  the  fastenings 
of  the  doors.  I  found  that  one  back  door  had  been  left 
unfastened,  and  locked  and  bolted  it.    The  Squire  told  me 


COLONEL   TEORNBYKE  S  SECRET.  43 

to  lie  down  until  one  o'clock,  and  he  would  watch,  and  Mr. 
Bastow  went  up  to  bed." 

"  Do  you  know  of  your  own  knowledge  why  these  pre- 
cautions were  taken?  " 

"  Only  from  what  I  was  told,  your  honor.  At  one 
o'clock  the  Squire  woke  me,  and  he  lay  down  in  the 
parlor,  telling  me  to  call  him  if  I  heard  any  movement 
outside.  About  two  o'clock  I  heard  two  horses  come 
into  the  Parson's  yard.  I  called  Squire  Thorndyke,  who 
went  upstairs  to  an  open  window;  presently  someone 
came  and  tried  the  back  door.  I  heard  voices  outside, 
but  could  not  hear  what  was  said.  The  Squire  came 
down  and  called  me  upstairs.  I  went  up  and  took  my 
place  at  one  side  of  the  window,  and  the  Squire  took  his 
on  the  other.  I  bad  this  cudgel  in  my  hand,  and  the 
Squire  his  riding-whip.  A  ladder  was  put  up  against 
the  window,  and  then  someone  came  up,  lifted  the  sash 
up  high  and  got  in.  There  was  light  enough  for  me  to 
see  it  was'  young  Mr.  Bastow.  Then  the  two  other 
prisoners  came  up.  When  the  third  had  got  into  the 
room  Mr.  Bastow  said,  '  Follow  me,  and  then  you  won't 
tumble  over  the  furniture.'  " 

"  How  was  it  that  they  did  not  see  you  and  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke?"  the  chairman  asked. 

"  We  were  standing  well  back,  your  honor.  The  moon 
was  on  the  other  side  of  the  house.  There  was  light 
enough  for  us  to  see  them  as  they  got  in  at  the  window, 
but  where  we  were  standing  it  was  quite  dark,  especially 
to  chaps  who  had  just  come  in  from  the  moonlight.  As 
they  moved,  the  Squire  hit  the  last  of  them  a  clout  on 
the  head  with  his  hunting-crop,  and  down  he  went,  as  if 
shot.  The  man  next  to  him  turned,  but  I  did  not  see 
what  took  place,  for,  as  the  Squire  had  ordered  me,  I 
made  a  rush  at  Mr.  Bastow  and  got  my  arms  round  him 
pretty  tight,  so  as  to  prevent  him  using  his  pistols,  if  he 
had  any.  He  struggled  hard,  but  without  saying  a  word, 
till  T  got  my  heel  behind  his  and  threw  him  on  his  back. 
I  came  down  on  the  top  of  him:  then  1  got  the  pistole 
out  of  his  belt  and  threw  them  on  the  bed,  slipped  th>„ 
handcuffs  onto  one  wrist,  lifted  him  up  a  hit,  and  then 
shoved  him  up  against  the  bedpost,  and  got  the  hand- 


44  COLONEL   THORNDYKE '8  SECRET. 

cuff  onto  his  other  wrist,  so  that  he  could  not  shift  away? 
having  the  post  in  between  his  arms. 

"  Then  I  went  to  see  if  the  Squire  wanted  any  help, 
"but  he  didn't.  I  first  handcuffed  the  man  whose  head 
he  had  broken,  and  tied  the  legs  of  the  other,  and  then 
kept  guard  over  them  till  morning.  When  the  constables 
came  up  from  town  we  searched  the  prisoners,  and  on 
two  of  them  found  the  watches,  money,  and  rings.  We 
found  nothing  on  Mr.  Bastow.  I  went  with  the  head  con- 
stable to  Mr.  Bastow's  room  and  searched  it  thoroughly, 
but  found  nothing  whatever  there." 

The  evidence  created  a  great  sensation  in  court.  John 
Thorndyke  had  first  intended  to  ask  Knapp  not  to  make 
any  mention  of  the  fact  that  Arthur  Bastow  was  carry- 
ing pistols  unless  the  question  was  directly  put  to  him. 
But  the  more  he  had  thought  over  the  matter,  the  more 
convinced  was  he  that  the  heavier  the  sentence  the  better 
it  would  be  for  the  Bector;  and  when  he  had  heard  from 
the  latter  that  there  was  nothing  left  in  his  son's  room 
that  could  be  brought  against  him,  and  that  he  could 
not  be  charged  with  the  capital  crime  of  being  a  receiver, 
he  thought  it  best  to  let  matters  take  their  course. 

The  head  constable  was  the  next  witness.  He  deposed 
to  the  finding  of  the  articles  produced  upon  the  two  elder 
prisoners  and  the  unsuccessful  search  of  the  younger 
prisoner's  room. 

"You  did  not  search  the  house  further?"  the  chair- 
man inquired. 

"  No,  sir;  I  wanted  to  get  the  prisoners  down  here  as 
fast  as  I  could,  seeing  that  two  of  them  were  seriously 
hurt." 

The  chairman  nodded. 

"  You  will,  of  course,  make  a  careful  search  of  the 
whole  house,  constable." 

"  Yes,  sir;  I  left  one  of  my  men  up  there  with  in- 
structions to  allow  no  one  to  go  upstairs  until  I  re- 
turned." 

"  Quite  right." 

John  Thorndyke  was  the  next  witness,  and  his  evidence 
cleared  up  what  had  hitherto  been  a  mystery  to  the 
general  body  of  the  public,  as  to  how  he  and  the  constable 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE '8  SECRET.  45 

happened  to  be  in  the  house  on  watch  when  the  highway- 
men arrived.  The  most  important  part  of  his  evidence 
was  the  repetition  of  the  words  young  Bastow  had  used 
as  he  mounted  the  ladder,  as  they  showed  that  it  was 
arranged  between  the  prisoners  that  the  stolen  goods 
should  be  hidden  in  the  house.  The  Squire  was  only 
asked  one  or  two  questions. 

"  I  suppose,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  that  you  had  no  idea 
whatever  that  the  younger  prisoner  would  be  accompa- 
nied by  anyone  else  when  he  returned  home?" 

"  Not  the  slightest,"  the  Squire  replied.  "  I  was  there 
simply  to  prevent  this  unfortunate  lad  from  entering  the 
house,  when  perhaps  he  might  have  used  violence  towards 
his  father.  My  intention  was  to  seize  him  if  he  did  so, 
and  to  give  him  the  choice  of  enlisting,  as  I  had  urged 
him  to  do,  or  of  being  brought  before  this  bench  for 
breaking  into  his  father's  house.  I  felt  that  anything  was 
better  than  his  continuing  in  the  evil  courses  on  which, 
he  seemed  bent." 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  I  must  compliment  you 
in  the  name  of  my  brother  magistrates,  and  I  may  say 
of  the  public,  for  the  manner  in  which  you,  at  consider- 
able risk  to  yourself,  have  effected  the  capture  of  the  two 
elder  prisoners." 

After  consulting  with  the  others  the  head  constable 
was  recalled. 

"  Do  you  know  anything  about  the  character  of  the 
youngest  prisoner?  " 

"  Yes,  sir.  We  have  had  our  eye  upon  him  for  some 
time.  He  was  brought  before  your  honors  a  week  ago 
charged  with  being  drunk  and  disorderly  in  this  town,  • 
and  was  fined  £5.  He  is  constantly  drinking  with  some 
of  the  worst  characters  in  the  place,  and  is  strongly  sus- 
pected of  having  been  concerned  in  the  fray  between  the 
poachers  and  Sir  Charles  Harris'  gamekeepers.  Two 
of  the  latter  said  that  they  recognized  him  amongst  the 
poachers,  but  as  they  both  declined  to  swear  to  him  we 
did  not  arrest  him." 

John  Knapp  was  then  recalled,  and  testified  to  Bastow's 
drinking  habits,  and  that  the  landlord  of  the  alehouse  at 
Crowswood  had  been  ordered  by  the  Squire  not  to  draw 


46  COLONEL   THOBNBYKE'S  SECRET. 

any  liquor  for  him  in  future  on  pain  of  having  the  renewal 
of  his  license  refused. 

"  Have  you  any  more  witnesses  to  call  ?  "  the  chairman 
asked  the  head  constable. 

"  Not  at  present,  your  honor.  We  have  sent  up  to 
town,  and  on  the  next  occasion  the  coachman  will  he  called 
to  testify  to  the  shooting  of  the  guard,  and  we  hope  to 
have  some  of  the  passengers  here  to  identify  the  articles 
stolen  from  them." 

"  It  will  be  necessary  that  the  Eev.  Mr.  Bastow  should 
be  here.  He  need  not  be  called  to  give  evidence  unless 
we  think  it  to  be  of  importance,  but  he  had  better  be  in 
attendance.  The  prisoners  are  remanded  until  this  day 
week." 

An  hour  later  the  three  prisoners,  handcuffed,  were 
driven  under  an  escort  of  three  armed  constables  to 
Croydon  Jail.  When  again  brought  up  in  court  the 
passengers  on  the  coach  identified  the  articles  taken  from 
them;  the  coachman  gave  evidence  of  the  stopping  of  the 
coach,  and  of  the  shooting  of  the  guard.  The  head  con- 
stable testified  that  he  had  searched  the  Eectory  from  top 
to  bottom,  and  found  nothing  whatever  of  a  suspicious 
nature.  None  of  the  passengers  were  able  to  testify  to 
the  two  elder  prisoners  as  the  men  who  had  robbed  them, 
as  these  had  been  masked,  but  the  height  and  dress  cor- 
responded to  those  of  the  prisoners;  and  the  two  Bow 
Street  runners  then  came  forward,  and  gave  evidence  that 
the  two  elder  prisoners  were  wejl  known  to  them.  They 
had  long  been  suspected  of  being  highwaymen,  and  had 
several  times  been  arrested  when  riding  towards  London 
on  occasions  when  a  coach  had  been  stopped  the  night 
before,  but  no  stolen  goods  had  ever  been  found  upon 
them,  and  in  no  case  had  the  passengers  been  able  to 
swear  to  their  identity.  One  was  known  among  his  asso- 
ciates as  "  Galloping  Bill,"  the  other  as  the  "  Downy 
One." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  evidence  the  three  prisoners 
were  formally  committed  for  trial,  the  magistrates  having 
retired  in  consultation  for  some  time  upon  the  question 
of  whether  the  charge  of  receiving  stolen  goods  ought  to 
be  made  against  Arthur  Bastow. 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE '8  SECRET.  4? 

"  I  think,  gentlemen,"  the  chairman  said,  after  a  good 
deal  had  been  urged  on  both  sides  of  the  question,  "  in 
this  case  we  can  afford  to  take  a  merciful  view.  In  the 
first  place,  no  stolen  goods  were  discovered  upon  him  or 
in  the  house.  There  is  strong  presumptive  evidence  of 
his  intention,  but  intention  is  not  a  crime,  and  even  were 
the  evidence  stronger  than  it  is,  I  should  be  inclined  to 
take  a  merciful  view.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
young  fellow  is  thoroughly  bad,  and  the  bravado  he  has 
exhibited  throughout  the  hearing  is  at  once  unbecoming 
and  disgraceful;  but  we  must  remember  that  he  is  not 
yet  eighteen,  and  that,  in  the  second  place,  he  is  the  son 
of  a  much  respected  clergyman,  who  is  our  neighbor. 
The  matter  is  serious  enough  for  him  as  it  stands,  and  he 
is  certain  to  have  a  very  heavy  sentence. 

"  Mr.  Thorndyke,  who  takes  no  part  in  our  delibera- 
tions, is  most  anxious  that  the  prisoner's  father  should  be 
spared  the  agony  of  his  son  being  placed  on  trial  on  a 
capital  charge,  though  I  do  not  think  that  there  would  be 
the  smallest  chance  of  his  being  executed,  for  the  judges 
would  be  certain  to  take  his  youth  into  consideration. 
Had  there  been  prima-facie  evidence  of  concealment,  we 
must  have  done  our  duty  and  sent  him  to  trial  on  that 
charge;  but  as  there  is  no  such  evidence,  I  think  that  it 
will  be  in  all  respects  better  to  send  him  on  a  charge  on 
which  the  evidence  is  as  clear  as  noonday.  Moreover,  I 
think  that  Mr.  Thorndyke's  wishes  should  have  some 
weight  with  us,  seeing  that  it  is  entirely  due  to  him  that 
the  important  capture  of  these  highwaymen,  who  have 
long  been  a  scourge  to  this  neighborhood,  has  been 
effected." 

Mr.  Bastow  had  not  been  called  as  a  witness.  John 
Thorndyke  had  brought  him  down  to  Reigate  in  a  closed 
carriage,  and  he  had  waited  in  the  justices'  room  while 
the  examination  went  on;  but  the  magistrates  agreed  that 
the  evidence  given  was  amply  sufficient  for  them  to  com- 
mit upon  without  given  him  the  pain  of  appearing.  John 
Thorndyke  had  taken  him  to  another  room  while  the 
magistrates  were  consulting  together,  and  when  he  heard 
the  result  drove  him  back  again. 

"  I  have  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  resign  my  living, 


48  COLONEL   THORNDYKE 'S  SECRET. 

Thorndyke.  I  could  not  stand  up  and  preach  to  the 
villagers  of  their  duties  when  I  myself  have  failed  so 
signally  in  training  my  own  son;  nor  visit  their  houses 
and  presume  to  lecture  them  on  their  shortcomings  when 
my  son  is  a  convicted  criminal." 

"  I  quite  see  that,  old  friend,"  the  Squire  said.  "  And 
I  had  no  doubt  but  that  you  would  decide  on  this  course. 
I  will  try  not  to  persuade  you  to  change  your  decision, 
for  I  feel  that  your  power  of  usefulness  is  at  an  end  as 
far  as  the  village  is  concerned.  May  I  ask  what  you 
propose  to  do?  I  can  hardly  suppose  that  your  savings 
have  been  large." 

"  Two  years  ago  I  had  some  hundreds  laid  by,  but  they 
have  dwindled  away  to  nothing;  you  can  understand  how. 
For  a  time  it  was  given  freely,  then  reluctantly;  then  I  de- 
clared I  would  give  no  more,  but  he  took  it  all  the  same 
■ — he  knew  well  enough  that  I  could  never  prosecute  him 
for  forgery." 

"  As  bad  as  that,  eh?  "  Thorndyke  said  sternly.  "  Well, 
we  won't  talk  further  of  him  now;  what  I  propose  is 
that  you  should  take  up  your  abode  at  the  Hall.  I  am 
not  satisfied  with  the  school  where  Mark  has  been  for  the 
last  two  years,  and  I  have  been  hesitating  whether  to  get 
a  private  tutor  for  him  or  to  send  him  to  one  of  the  pub- 
lic schools.  I  know  that  that  would  be  best,  but  I  could 
not  bring  myself  to  do  so.  I  have  some  troubles  of  my 
own  that  but  two  or  three  people  know  of,  and  now,  that 
everything  is  going  on  smoothly  on  the  estate  and  in  the 
village,  I  often  feel  dull,  and  the  boy's  companionship 
does  me  much  good;  and  as  he  knows  many  lads  of  his 
own  age  in  the  neighborhood  now,  I  think  that  he  would 
do  just  as  well  at  home. 

"He  will  be  taking  to  shooting  and  hunting  before 
long,  and  if  he  is  to  have  a  tutor,  there  is  no  one  I  should 
like  to  have  better  than  yourself.  You  know  all  the 
people,  and  we  could  talk  comfortably  together  of  an 
evening  when  the  house  is  quiet.  Altogether,  it  will  be 
an  excellent  arrangement  for  me.  You  would  have  your 
own  room,  and  if  I  have  company  you  need  not  join  us 
unless  you  like.  The  house  would  not  seem  like  itself 
without  you,  for  you  have  been  associated  with  it  as  long 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  4» 

as  I  can  remember.  As  to  your  going  out  into  the  world 
at  the  age  of  sixty,  it  would  be  little  short  of  madness. 
There — you  need  not  give  me  an  answer  now,"  he  went 
on,  seeing  that  the  Eector  was  too  broken  down  to  speak; 
"  but  I  am  sure  that  when  you  think  it  over  you  will  come 
to  the  same  conclusion  as  I  do,  that  it  will  be  the  best 
plan  possible  for  us  both." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  trial  of  the  two  highwaymen  and  Arthur  Bastow 
came  off  in  due  course.  The  evidence  given  was  similar 
to  that  offered  at  Reigate,  the  only  addition  being  that 
Mr.  Bastow  was  himself  put  into  the  box.  The  counsel 
for  the  prosecution  said: 

"  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  call  you,  Mr.  Bastow.  We  all 
feel  most  deeply  for  you,  and  I  will  ask  you  only  two 
or  three  questions.  Was  your  son  frequently  out  at 
night?" 

"  He  was." 

"  Did  you  often  hear  him  return?  " 

"  Yes;  I  seldom  went  to  sleep  until  he  came  back." 

"  Had  you  any  reason  to  suppose  that  others  returned 
with  him?  " 

"  I  never  saw  any  others." 

"  But  you  might  have  heard  them  without  seeing  them. 
Please  tell  us  if  you  ever  heard  voices." 

"  Yes,  I  have  heard  men's  voices,"  the  clergyman  said 
reluctantly,  in  a  low  voice. 

"  One  more  question,  and  I  have  done.  Have  you  on 
some  occasions  heard  the  sound  of  horses'  hoofs  in  your 
jard  at  about  the  time  that  your  son  came  in?  " 

Mr.  Bastow  said  in  a  low  voice: 

"I  have." 

"  Had  you  any  suspicion  whatever  of  the  character  of 
your  son's  visitors  ?  " 

"  None  whatever.  I  supposed  that  those  with  him 
were  companions  with  whom  he  had  been  spending  the 
evening." 

Mr.  Bastow  had  to  be  assisted  from  the  witness-box, 
so  overcome  was  he  with  the  ordeal.  He  had  not  glanced 
at  his  son  while  giving  his  evidence.  The  latter  and  his 
two  fellow-prisoners  maintained  throughout  the  trial 
their  expression  of  indifference.     The  two  highwaymen 

50 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE' 8  SECRET.  51 

nodded  to  acquaintances  they  saw  in  the  body  of  the 
court,  smiled  at  various  points  in  the  evidence,  and  so 
conducted  themselves  that  there  were  murmured  exclama- 
tions of  approval  of  their  gameness  on  the  part  of  the  lower 
-class  of  the  public.  The  jury,  without  a  moment's  hesita- 
tion, found  them  all  guilty  of  the  offenses  with  which 
they  were  charged.    Bastow  was  first  sentenced. 

"  Young  man,"  the  judge  said,  "  young  as  you  are^ 
there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  in  the  minds  of  anyone 
who  has  heard  the  evidence  that  you  have  been  an  asso- 
ciate with  these  men  who  have  been  found  guilty  of  high- 
way robbery  accompanied  by  murder.  I  consider  that  a 
merciful  view  was  taken  of  your  case  by  the  magistrates 
who  committed  you  for  trial,  for  the  evidence  of  your 
heartbroken  father,  on  whose  gray  hairs  your  conduct 
has  brought  trouble  and  disgrace,  leaves  no  doubt  that 
you  have  for  some  time  been  in  league  with  highway- 
men, although  not  actually  participating  in  their  crime. 
The  words  overheard  by  Mr.  Thorndyke  show  that  you 
were  prepared  to  hide  their  booty  for  them,  and  it  is 
well  for  you  that  you  were  captured  before  this  was  done, 
and  that  no  proceeds  of  other  robberies  were  found  in 
the  house.  The  evidence  of  the  Bow  Street  officers  show 
that  it  had  for  some  time  been  suspected  that  these  men 
had  an  accomplice  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of 
lieigate,  for  although  arrested  several  times  under  cir- 
cumstances forming  a  strong  assumption  of  their  guilt, 
nothing  was  ever  found  upon  them.  There  can  now  be 
little  doubt  who  their  accomplice  was.  Had  you  been 
an  older  man  I  should  have  sentenced  you  to  transporta- 
tion for  life,  but  in  consideration  of  your  youth,  I  shall 
take  the  milder  course  of  sentencing  you  to  fifteen  years' 
transportation." 

The  capital  sentence  was  then  passed  in  much  fewer 
words  upon  the  two  highwaymen.  As  they  were  leaving 
the  dock  Bastow  turned,  and  in  a  clear  voice  said  to  John 
Thorndyke,  who  had  been  accommodated  with  a  seat  in 
the  well  of  the  court: 

"  I  have  to  thank  you,  Thorndyke,  for  this.  I  will 
pay  off  my  debt  some  day,  you  make  take  your  oath." 

*  A  sad  case,  Mr.  Thorndyke — a  sad  case,"  the  judge, 


52  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

who  had  greatly  complimented  the  Squire  on  his  conduct, 
said  to  him  as  he  was  disrobing  afterwards.  "  I  don't 
know  that  in  all  my  experience  I  ever  saw  such  a  hardened 
young  villain.  With  highwaymen  it  is  a  point  of  honor 
to  assume  a  gayety  of  demeanor  on  such  occasions;  but 
to  see  a  boy  of  eighteen,  never  before  convicted,  exhibit- 
ing such  coolness  and  effrontery  is  quite  beyond  my 
experience.    I  suppose  his  record  is  altogether  bad?" 

"  Altogether,"  the  Squire  said.  "  His  father  has,  dur- 
ing the  last  two  years,  been  quite  broken  by  it;  he  owned 
to  me  that  he  was  in  bodily  fear  of  the  lad,  who  had  on 
several  occasions  assaulted  him,  had  robbed  him  of  his 
savings  by  means  of  forgery,  and  was  so  hopelessly  bad 
that  he  himself  thought  with  me  that  the  only  possible 
hope  for  him  was  to  get  him  to  enlist.  I  myself  recom- 
mended the  East  India  Company's  service,  thinking  that 
he  would  have  less  opportunity  for  crime  out  there,  and 
that  there  would  be  a  strong  chance  that  either  fever  or 
a  bullet  would  carry  him  off,  for  I  own  that  I  have  not  the 
slightest  hope  of  reformation  in  such  a  character." 

"  I  would  have  given  him  transportation  for  life  if  I 
had  known  all  this,"  the  judge  said.  "  However,  it  is 
not  likely  that  he  will  ever  come  back  again — very  few  of 
them  do;  the  hulks  are  not  the  most  healthy  places  in 
the  world,  and  they  have  a  pretty  rough  way  with  men 
who  give  them  trouble,  as  this  young  fellow  is  Hkely 
to  do." 

Mr.  Bastow,  as  soon  as  he  had  given  his  evidence,  had 
"taken  a  hackney  coach  to  the  inn  where  he  and  the  Squire 
had  put  up  on  their  arrival  in  town  the  evening  before, 
and  here,  on  his  return,  John  Thorndyke  found  him. 
He  was  lying  on  his  bed  in  a  state  of  prostration. 

"  Cheer  up,  Bastow,"  he  said,  putting  his  hand  upon 
the  Rector's  shoulder.  "  The  sentence  is  fifteen  years, 
which  was  the  very  amount  I  hoped  that  he  would  get. 
The  more  one  sees  of  him  the  more  hopeless  it  is  to  expect 
that  any  change  will  ever  take  place  in  him;  and  it  is 
infinitely  better  that  he  should  be  across  the  se^  where 
ills  conduct,  when  his  term  is  over,  can  affect  no  one. 
The  disgrace,  such  as  it  is,  to  his  friends,  is  no  greater 
in  a  long  term  than  in  a  short  one.    Had  he  got  off  with 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  53 

four  or  five  years'  imprisonment,  he  would  have  been  a 
perpetual  trouble  and  a  source  of  uneasiness,  not  to  say 
alarm;  and  even  had  he  left  you  alone  we  should  always 
have  been  in  a  state  of  dread  as  to  his  next  offense. 
Better  that  he  should  be  out  in  the  colonies  than  be 
hung  at  Tyburn." 

"  How  did  he  take  the  sentence?  " 

"  With  the  same  bravado .  he  had  shown  all  through, 
and  as  he  went  out  of  the  dock  addressed  a  threat  to  me, 
that,  under  the  circumstances,  I  can  very  well  afford  to 
despise.  Now,  if  you  will  take  my  advice,  you  will  drink 
a  couple  of  glasses  of  good  port,  and  then  go  to  bed.  I 
will  see  to  your  being  awakened  at  seven  o'clock,  which 
will  give  us  time  to  breakfast  comfortably,  and  to  make  a 
start  at  nine." 

"  I  would  rather  not  have  the  wine,"  the  Kector  said 
feebly. 

"  Yes,  but  you  must  take  what  is  good  for  you.  I  have 
ordered  up  a  bottle  of  the  landlord's  best,  and  must  insist 
upon  your  drinking  a  couple  of  glasses  with  me.  I  want 
it  almost  as  much  as  you  do,  for  the  atmosphere  of  that 
court  was  enough  to  poison  a  dog.  I  have  got  the  taste 
of  it  in  my  mouth  still." 

With  much  reluctance  the  Eector  accompanied  him  to 
the  private  sitting  room  that  the  Squire  had  engaged. 
He  sat  down  almost  mechanically  in  an  easy-chair.  Tha 
Squire  poured  out  the  wine,  and  handed  him  a  glass. 
Mr.  Bastow  at  first  put  it  to  his  lips  without  glancing  at 
it,  but  he  was  a  connoisseur  in  wine,  and  the  bouquet  of 
the  port  appealing  to  his  latent  senses,  he  took  a  sip,  and 
then  another,  appreciatingly. 

"  The  landlord  said  it  was  first-rate,  and  he  is  not  far 
wrong,"  John  Thorndyke  remarked,  as  he  set  down  his 
own  glass. 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  fine  vintage,  and  in  perfect  condition," 
Mr.  Bastow  agreed.  "  I  have  drunk  nothing  better  for 
years,  though  you  have  some  fine  bins." 

"  I  would  take  a  biscuit,  if  I  were  you,  before  I  took 
another  glass,"  the  Squire  said,  helping  himself  from  a 
plate  on  the  table.  "  You  have  had  nothing  to  eat  to- 
day, and  you  want  something  badly.     I  have  a  dish  of 


54  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

.kidneys  coining  up  in  half  an  hour;  they  cook  them  well 
here.'' 

The  Eector  ate  a  biscuit,  mechanically  sipped  another 
glass  of  wine,  and  was  even  able  to  eat  a  kidney  when 
they  were  brought  up.  Although  September  was  not  yet 
out,  the  Squire  had  a  fire  lighted  in  the  room,  and  after 
the  meal  was  over,  and  two  steaming  tumblers  of  punch 
were  placed  upon  the  table,  he  took  a  long  pipe  from 
the  mantel,  filled  and  lighted  it,  then  filled  another,  and 
handed  it  to  the  Eector,  at  the  same  time  holding  out  a 
light  to  him. 

"  Life  has  its  consolations,"  he  said.  "  You  have  had 
a  lot  of  troubles  one  way  and  another,  Bastow,  but  we 
may  hope  that  they  are  all  over  now,  and  that  life  will 
go  more  smoothly  and  easily  with  you.  We  had  better 
leave  the  past  alone  for  the  present.  I  call  this  snug:  a 
good  fire,  a  clean  pipe,  a  comfortable  chair,  and  a  steam- 
ing bowl  at  one's  elbow." 

The  Eector  smiled  faintly. 

"  It  seems  unnatural "  he  began. 

"  Not  at  all,  not  at  all,"  the  Squire  broke  in.  "  You 
have  had  a  tremendous  load  on  your  mind,  and  now  it  is 
lifted  off;  the  thundercloud  has  burst,  and  though  dam- 
age has  been  done,  one  is  thankful  that  it  is  no  worse. 
Now  I  can  talk  to  you  of  a  matter  that  has  been  on  my 
mind  for  the  last  three  weeks.  What  steps  do  you  think 
that  I  ought  to  take  to  find  a  successor  for  you?  It  is 
most  important  to  have  a  man  who  will  be  a  real  help  in 
the  parish,  as  you  have  been,  would  pull  with  one  com- 
fortably, and  be  a  pleasant  associate.  I  don't  want  too 
young  a  fellow,  and  I  don't  want  too  old  a  one.  I  have 
no  more  idea  how  to  set  about  it  than  a  child.  Of  course, 
I  could  ask  the  Bishop  to  appoint,  but  I  don't  know  that 
he  would  appoint  at  all  the  sort  of  man  I  want.  The 
living  is  only  worth  £200  a  year  and  the  house — no  very 
great  catch;  but  there  is  many  a  man  that  would  be  glad 
to  have  it." 

"  I  have  been  thinking  it  over,  too,  Thorndyke,  when 
I  could  bring  my  mind  to  consider  anything  but  my  own 
.affairs.  How  would  Greg  do?  He  has  been  taking  duty 
*or  me  since  I  could  not  do  it  myself.     I  know  that  he 


COLONEL  THORNDTKE'8  SECRET.  55 

is  a  hard-working  fellow,  and  he  has  a  wife  and  a  couple 
of  children;  his  curacy  is  only  £70  a  year,  and  it  would 
be  a  perfect  godsend,  for  he  has  no  interest  in  the  Church, 
and  he  might  he  years  without  preferment." 

"  I  should  think  he  would  do  very  well,  Bastow.  Yes, 
he  reads  well,  which  I  own  I  care  for  that  a  good  deal 
more  than  for  the  preaching;  not  that  I  have  anything 
to  say  against  that.  He  gives  sound  and  practical  ser- 
mons, and  they  have  the  advantage  of  being  short,  which 
is  a  great  thing.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  good  in  itself,  and 
in  the  second,  specially  important  in  a  village  congrega- 
tion, where  you  know  very  well  every  woman  present  is 
fidgeting  to  get  home  to  see  that  the  pot  is  not  boiling 
over,  and  the  meat  in  the  oven  is  not  burnt.  Yes,  I  will 
go  down  to-morrow  afternoon  and  ask  him  if  he  would 
like  the  living.  You  were  talking  of  selling  the  funiture; 
how  much  do  you  suppose  it  is  worth?  " 

"  I  don't  suppose  it  will  fetch  above  seventy  or  eighty 
pounds;  it  is  solid  and  good,  but  as  I  have  had  it  in  use 
nearly  forty  years,  it  would  not  go  for  much." 

"  Well,  let  us  say  a  hundred  pounds,"  the  Squire  said. 
"  I  will  give  you  a  check  for  it.  I  dare  say  Greg  will 
find  it  difficult  to  furnish,  and  he  might  have  to  borrow 
the  money,  and  the  debt  would  be  a  millstone  round  his 
neck,  perhaps,  for  years,  so  I  will  hand  it  over  with  the 
Rectory  to  him." 

So  they  talked  for  an  hour  or  two  on  village  matters, 
and  the  Squire  was  well  pleased,  when  his  old  friend  went 
up  to  bed,  that  he  had  succeeded  in  diverting  his  thoughts 
for  a  time  from  the  painful  subject  that  had  engrossed 
them  for  weeks. 

"  You  have  slept  well,"  he  said,  when  they  met  at 
breakfast,  "  I  can  see  by  your  face." 

"  Yes,  I  have  not  slept  so  soundly  for  months.  I  went 
to  sleep  as  soon  as  my  head  touched  the  pillow,  and 
did  not  awake  until  the  chambermaid  knocked  at  the 
door." 

"  That  second  glass  of  punch  did  it,  Bastow.  It  is  a 
fine  morning;  we  shall  have  a  brisk  drive  back.  I  am 
very  glad  that  I  changed  my  mind  and  brought  the  gig 
instead  of  the  close  carriage." 


66  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRE1. 

In  the  afternoon  the  Squire  drove  into  Eeigate.  He 
found  the  curate  at  home,  and  astonished  and  delighted 
him  by  asking  him  if  he  would  like  the  living  of  Crows- 
wood.  It  came  altogether  as  a  surprise  to  him,  for  the 
Sector's  intentions  to  resign  had  not  been  made  public, 
and  it  was  supposed  in  the  village  that  he  was  only  stay- 
ing at  the  Squire's  until  this  sad  affair  should  be  over. 
Greg  was  a  man  of  seven  or  eight  and  twenty,  had  gradu- 
ated with  distinction  at  Cambridge,  but,  having  no  in- 
fluence, had  no  prospects  of  promotion,  and  the  offer 
almost  bewildered  him. 

"  I  should  be  grateful  indeed,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  he 
said.  "  It  would  be  a  boon  to  us.  Will  you  excuse  me 
lor  a  moment?"  And  opening  a  door,  he  called  for  his 
wife,  who  was  trying  to  keep  the  two  children  quiet  there, 
having  retired  with  them  hastily  when  Mr.  Thorndyke 
was  announced.  "  What  do  you  think,  Emma?  "  her  hus- 
band said  excitedly,  as  she  came  into  the  room.  "  Mr. 
Thorndyke  has  been  good  enough  to  offer  me  the  living 
of  Crowswood."  Then  he  recovered  himself.  "  I  beg 
your  pardon,  sir,  for  my  unmannerliness  in  not  first  intro- 
ducing my  wife  to  you." 

"  It  was  natural  that  you  should  think  of  telling  her 
the  news  first  of  all,"  the  Squire  said  courteously. 
"  Madam,  I  am  your  obedient  servant,  and  I  hope  that 
soon  we  shall  get  to  know  each  other  well.  I  consider 
it  of  great  importance  that  the  Squire  of  a  parish  and 
the  Eector  should  work  well  together,  and  see  a  great 
deal  of  each  other.  I  don't  know  whether  you  are  aware, 
Mr.  Greg,  that  the  living  is  worth  £200  a  year,  besides 
which  there  is  a  paddock  of  about  ten  acres,  which  is 
sufficient  for  the  keep  of  a  horse  and  cow.  The  Eectory 
is  a  comfortable  one,  and  I  have  arranged  with  Mr. 
Bastow  that  he  shall  leave  his  furniture  for  the  benefit 
of  his  successor.  It  will  include  linen,  so  that  you  will 
be  put  to  no  expense  whatever  in  moving  in.  I  have 
known  these  first  expenses  to  seriously  cripple  the  useful- 
ness of  a  clergyman  when  appointed  to  a  living." 

"  That  is  good  of  you  indeed,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the 
curate  said.  "  We  have  been  living  in  these  lodgings 
since  we  first  came  here,  and  it  will  indeed  make  matters 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  59 

the  trees  were  laden  with  apples,  pears,  and  plums. 
"What  a  change  from  our  little  rooms  in  Eeigate!  I 
should  think  that  anyone  ought  to  be  happy  indeed 
here." 

"  They  ought  to  be,  Emma,  but  you  see  Mr.  Bastow 
had  trouble  enough;  and  it  should  be  a  lesson  to  us, 
dear,  to  look  very  closely  after  the  boys  now  they  are 
young,  and  see  that  they  don't  make  bad  acquaintances." 

"  From  what  we  hear  of  the  village,  there  is  little  fear 
of  that;  the  mischief  must  have  begun  before  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke  came  down,  when  by  all  accounts  things  had  alto- 
gether gone' to  the  bad  here,  and  of  course  young  Bastow 
must  have  had  an  exceptionally  evil  disposition,  Ernest." 

"  Yes,  no  doubt;  but  his  father  could  not  have  looked 
after  him  properly.  I  believe,  from  what  I  hear,  that 
Bastow  was  so  dispirited  at  his  powerlessness  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  state  of  things  here,  that,  except  to  perform 
service,  he  seldom  left  the  house,  and  the  boy  no  doubt 
grew  up  altogether  wild.  You  know  that  I  was  in  court 
on  the  second  day  of  the  examination,  and  the  young  fel- 
low's insolence  and  bearing  astonished  and  shocked  me. 
Happily,  we  have  the  Squire  here  now  to  back  us  up,  the 
village  has  been  completely  cleared  of  all  bad  characters, 
and  is  by  all  accounts  quite  a  model  place,  and  we  must 
do  our  best  to  keep  it  so." 

The  news  of  the  change  at  the  Eectory  naturally  occa- 
sioned a  great  deal  of  talk.  At  first  there  was  a  general 
feeling  of  regret  that  Mr.  Bastow  had  gone,  and  yet  it 
was  felt  that  he  could  not  have  been  expected  to  stay;  the 
month's  experience  that  they  had  had  of  the  new  parson 
had  cleared  the  way  for  him.  He  and  his  wife  soon  made 
themselves  familiar  with  the  villagers,  and  being  bright 
young  people,  speedily  made  themselves  liked.  The  Squire 
and  Mrs.  Cunningham  called  the  first  afternoon  after 
their  arrival. 

"  You  must  always  send  up  if  anything  is  wanted,  Mr. 
Greg;  whenever  there  is  any  illness  in  the  village  we 
always  keep  a  stock  of  soups  and  jellies,  and  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham is  almoner  in  general.  Is  there  anything  that  we  can 
do  for  you?    If  so,  let  me  know  without  hesitation." 

"Indeed,  there  is  nothing,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  It  is  mar- 


60  COLONEL   THORNDYKE' 8  SECRET. 

velous  to  us  coming  in  here  and  finding  everything  that 
we  can  possibly  want." 

"  You  will  want  a  boy  for  your  garden;  and  you  can- 
not do  better  than  take  young  Bill  Summers.  He  was 
with  me  for  a  bit  last  year,  when  the  boy  I  have  now 
was  laid  up  with  mumps  or  something  of  that  sort,  and 
he  was  very  favorably  reported  on  as  being  handy  in  the 
garden,  able  to  milk  a  cow,  and  so  on.  By  the  way,  Mrs. 
Greg,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  sending  down  a  cow  in 
milk.  I  expect  she  is  in  your  meadow  now.  I  have  seven 
or  eight  of  them,  and  if  you  will  send  her  back  when  her 
milk  fails   I  will  send  down  another." 

"You  are  too  kind  altogether,  Mr.  Thorndyke! "  Mrs. 
Greg  exclaimed. 

"  Not  at  all.  I  want  to  see  things  comfortable  here, 
and  you  will  find  it  difficult  to  get  on  without  a  cow. 
I  keep  two  or  three  for  the  special  use  of  the  village. 
I  make  them  pay  for  it,  halfpenny  a  pint;  it  is  better 
to  do  that  than  to  give  it.  It  is  invaluable  for  the  chil- 
dren; and  I  don't  think  in  all  England  you  see  rosier  and 
healthier  youngsters  than  those  in  our  schools.  You  will 
sometimes  find  milk  useful  for  puddings  and  that  sort 
of  thing  for  the  sick;  and  they  will  appreciate  it  all  the 
more  than  if  they  had  to  look  solely  to  us  for  their 
supply." 

"  How  is  Mr.  Bastow,  sir?  " 

"  He  is  better  than  could  be  expected.  He  himself 
proposed  this  morning  that  my  boy  Mark  should  begin 
his  studies  at  once;  and,  indeed,  now  that  the  worst  is 
over  and  he  has  got  rid  of  the  load  of  care  on  his  shoul- 
ders, I  hope  that  we  shall  have  him  bright  and  cheerful 
again  before  long." 

Such  was  indeed  the  case.  For  some  little  time  Mr. 
Bastow  avoided  the  village,  but  John  Thorndyke  got  him 
to  go  down  with  him  to  call  upon  Mr.  Greg,  and  after- 
wards to  walk  through  it  with  him.  At  first  he  went 
timidly  and  shrinkingly,  but  the  kindly  greetings  of  the 
women  he  met,  and  the  children  stopping  to  pull  a  fore- 
lock or  bob  a  courtesy  as  of  old,  gradually  cheered  him  up, 
and  he  soon  got  accustomed  to  the  change,  and  would  of 
an  afternoon  so  down  to  the  village  and  chat  with  the 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  61 

women,  after  he  had  ascertained  that  his  successor  had 
no  objection  whatever,  and  was,  indeed,  pleased  that  he 
still  took  an  interest  in  his  former  parishioners. 

Mark  was  at  first  disappointed  at  the  arrangement,  for 
he  had  looked  forward  to  going  to  a  public  school.  His 
father,  however,  had  no  great  trouble  in  reconciling  him 
to  it. 

"  Of  course,  Mark,"  he  said,  "  there  are  advantages  in 
a  public  school.  I  was  never  at  one  myself,  but  I  believe 
that,  though  the  discipline  is  pretty  strict,  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  fun  and  sport,  and  you  may  make  desirable  ac- 
quaintances. Upon  the  other  hand,  there  are  drawbacks. 
In  the  first  place,  the  majority  of  the  boys  are  sons  of 
richer  men  than  I  am.  I  don't  know  that  that  would 
matter  much,  but  it  would  give  you  expensive  habits, 
and  perhaps  make  you  fonder  of  London  life  than  I  should 
care  about.  In  the  next  place,  you  see,  you  would  be  at 
school  when  the  shooting  begins,  and  you  are  looking  for- 
ward to  carrying  a  gun  next  year.  The  same  with  hunt- 
ing. You  know  I  promised  that  this  year  you  should  go 
to  the  meets  on  your  pony,  and  see  as  much  of  them  as 
you  can,  and  of  course  when  you  were  at  school  you  would 
■only  be  able  to  indulge  in  these  matters  during  your  holi- 
days: and  if  a  hard  frost  set  in,  as  is  the  case  three 
times  out  of  four,  just  as  you  came  home,  you  would  be 
out  of  it  altogether. 

"  I  must  say  I  should  like  you  to  have  a  real  love  of 
field  sports  and  to  be  a  good  shot  and  a  good  rider.  A 
man,  however  wide  his  acres  may  be,  is  thought  but  little 
of  in  the  country  if  he  is  not  a  good  sportsman;  and, 
moreover,  there  is  nothing  better  for  developing  health 
and  muscles  than  riding,  and  tramping  over  the  fields 
with  a  gun  on  your  shoulder;  and,  lastly,  you  must  not 
forget,  Mark,  that  one  of  my  objects  in  making  this 
arrangement  is  to  keep  Mr.  Bastow  with  us.  I  am  sure 
that  unless  he  thought  that  he  was  making  himself  useful 
he  would  not  be  content  to  remain  here;  and  at  his  age, 
you  know,  it  would  be  hard  for  him  to  obtain  clerical 
employment." 

"  All  right,  father.  I  see  that  the  present  plan  is  the 
best,  and  that  I  should  have -but  little  sport  if  I  went 


62  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

away  to  school.  Besides,  I  like  Mr.  Bastow  very  much, 
and  I  am  quite  sure  that  I  shan't  get  so  many  whackings 
from  him  as  I  used  to  do  from  old  Holbrook." 

"  I  fancy  not,  Mark,"  his  father  said  with  a  smile.  "  I 
am  not  against  wholesome  discipline,  but  I  think  it  can 
be  carried  too  far;  at  any  rate,  I  hope  you  will  be  just  as 
obedient  to  Mr.  Bastow  as  if  he  always  had  a  cane  on  the 
table  beside  him." 

Mark,  therefore,  went  to  work  in  a  cheerful  spirit,  and 
soon  found  that  he  made  more  progress  in  a  week  under 
Mr.  Bastow's  gentle  tuition  than  he  had  done  in  a  month 
under  the  vigorous  discipline  of  his  former  master. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greg  dined  regularly  at  the  Squire's  once 
a  week. 

"  Have  you  had  that  Indian  servant  of  yours  long,  Mr. 
Thorndyke  ? "  Mrs.  Greg  asked  one  day.  "  He  is  a 
strange-looking  creature.  Of  course,  in  the  daytime,  when 
one  sees  him  about  in  ordinary  clothes,  one  does  not 
notice  him  so  much;  but  of  an  evening,  in  that  Eastern 
costume  of  his,  he  looks  very  strange." 

"  He  was  the  servant  of  the  Colonel,  my  brother,"  the 
Squire  replied.  "  He  brought  him  over  from  India  with 
him.  The  man  had  been  some  years  in  his  service,  and 
was  very  attached  to  him,  and  had  saved  his  life  more 
than  once,  he  told  me.  On  one  occasion  he  caught  a 
cobra  by  the  neck  as  it  was  about  to  strike  my  brother's 
hand  as  he  sat  at  table;  he  carried  it  out  into  the  com- 
pound, as  George  called  it,  but  which  means,  he  told  me, 
garden,  and  there  let  it  escape.  Another  time  he  caught 
a  Thug,  which  means  a  sort  of  robber  who  kills  his  victims 
by  strangling  before  robbing  them.  They  are  a  sort  of 
sect  who  regard  strangling  as  a  religious  action,  greatly 
favored  by  the  bloodthirsty  goddess  they  worship.  He 
was  in  the  act  of  fastening  the  twisted  handkerchief, 
used  for  the  purpose,  round  my  brother's  neck,  when 
Eamoo  cut  him  down.  The  closest  shave,  though,  was 
when  George,  coming  down  the  country,  was  pounced 
upon  by  a  tiger  and  carried  off.  Eamoo  seized  a  couple 
of  muskets  from  the  men,  and  rushed  into  the  jungle 
after  him,  and  coming  up  with  the  brute  killed  him  at 
the  first  shot.    George  escaped  with  a  broken  arm  and  his 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  63 

back  laid  open  by  a  scratch  of  the  tiger's  claws  as  it  first 
seized  him. 

"  So  at  George's  death  I  took  Eamoo  on,  and  have 
found  him  a  most  useful  fellow.  Of  course,  I  was  some 
little  time  before  I  became  accustomed  to  his  noiseless 
way  of  going  about,  and  it  used  to  make  me  jump  when 
I  happened  to  look  round,  and  saw  him  standing  quietly 
behind  me  when  I  thought  I  was  quite  alone.  However, 
as  soon  as  I  became  accustomed  to  him,  I  got  over  all 
that,  and  now  I  would  not  lose  him  for  anything;  he 
seems  to  know  instinctively  what  I  want.  He  is  excellent 
as  a  waiter  and  valet;  I  should  feel  almost  lost  without 
him  now;  and  the  clumping  about  of  an  English  man- 
servant would  annoy  me  as  much  as  his  noiseless  way 
of  going  about  did  at  first.  He  has  come  to  speak  English 
very  fairly.  Of  course,  my  brother  always  talked  to  him 
in  his  own  tongue;  still,  he  had  picked  up  enough 
English  for  me  to  get  on  with;  now  he  speaks  it  quite 
fluently.  When  I  have  nothing  whatever  for  him  to  do 
he  devotes  himself  to  my  little  ward.  She  is  very  fond 
of  him,  and  it  is  quite  pretty  to  see  them  together  in  the 
garden.  Altogether,  I  would  not  part  with  him  for  any- 
thing." 

For  some  years  life  passed  uneventfully  at  Crowswood. 
It  'was  seldom  indeed  that  the  Squire's  authority  was 
needed  to  set  matters  right  in  the  village.  The  substitu- 
tion of  good  farmers  for  shiftless  ones  in  some  of  the 
farms^  and  the  better  cultivation  generally,  had  given 
more  employment;  and  as  John  Thorndyke  preferred 
keeping  two  or  three  cottages  shut  up  rather  than  have 
them  occupied  by  men  for  whom  no  work  could  be  found, 
it  was  rare  indeed  that  there  were  any  complaints  of 
scarcity  of  work,  except,  indeed,  on  the  part  of  the  Rector, 
who  declared  that,  what  with  the  healthiness  of  the  vil- 
lage and  the  absence  of  want,  his  occupation,  save  for  the 
Sunday  duty,  was  a  sinecure.  Mr.  Bastow  was  more  happy 
and  much  brighter  than  he  had  been  for  many  years.  The 
occupation  of  teaching  suited  him,  and  he  was  able  to 
make  the  work  pleasant  to  his  pupil  as  well  as  to  himself; 
indeed,  it  occupied  but  a  small  portion  of  the  day,  the 


64  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

amount  of  learning  considered  necessary  at  the  time  not 
being  extensive.  A  knowledge  of  Greek  was  thought 
quite  superfluous  for  a  country  gentleman.  Science  was 
in  its  infancy,  mathematics  a  subject  only  to  be  taken  up 
by  those  who  wanted  to  obtain  a  college  fellowship. 
Latin,  however,  was  considered  an  essential,  and  a  knack 
of  apt  quotation  from  the  Latin  poets  an  accomplishment 
that  ever}-  man  who  was  a  member  of  society  or  aspired 
to  enter  Parliament  was  expected  to  possess.  Thus  Mark 
Thorndyke's  lessons  lasted  but  two  or  three  hours  a  day, 
and  the  school  term  was  a  movable  period,  according  to 
the  season  of  the  year  and  the  engagements  of  the  Squire 
and  Mark.  In  winter  the  evening  was  the  time,  so  that 
the  boy  shot  with  his  father,  or  rode  to  the  hounds,  or, 
as  he  got  older,  joined  in  shooting-parties  at  the  houses 
of  neighbors. 

In  summer  the  work  was  done  in  the  morning,  but  was 
not  unfrequently  broken.  Mark  went  off  at  a  very  early 
hour  to  drive  perhaps  some  twenty  miles  with  his  greal; 
chum,  Dick  Chetwynd,  for  a  long  day's  fishing,  or  to  sett 
a  main  of  cocks  fought  or  a  fight  between  the  champions; 
of  two  neighboring  villages,  or  perhaps  some  more  im- 
portant battle. 

AVhen  Millicent  Conyers  was  ten  years  old  she  came 
regularly  into  the  study,  sitting  curled  up  in  a  deep  chair, 
getting  up  her  lessons  while  Mark  did  his,  and  then 
changing  seats  with  him  while  he  learned  his  Horace  or 
Ovid  by  heart.  At  this  time  she  looked  up  greatly  to 
him,  and  was  his  companion  whenever  he  would  allow  her 
to  be,  fetched  and  carried  for  him,  and  stood  almost  on 
a  level  with  his  dogs  in  his  estimation. 

Five  years  later,  when  Mark  was  eighteen,  these  rela- 
tions changed  somewhat.  He  now  liked  to  have  her  with 
him,  not  only  when  about  the  house  and  garden,  but  when 
he  took  short  rides  she  cantered  along  on  her  pony  by  his 
side.  She  was  a  bright-faced  girl,  full  of  life  and  fun, 
and  rejoicing  in  a  far  greater  amount  of  freedom  than 
most  girls  of  her  age  and  time. 

"  It  is  really  time  that  she  should  learn  to  comport 
herself  more  staidly,  instead  of  running  about  like  a  wild 
thing,"  Mrs.  Cunningham  said,  one  day,  as  she  and  the 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  65 

Squire  stood  after  breakfast  looking  out  of  the  open  win- 
dow at  Mark  and  Millicent. 

"  Time  enough,  my  dear  lady,  time  enough.  Let  her 
enjoy  life  while  she  can.  I  am  not  in  favor  of  making  a 
young  kitten  behave  like  an  old  tabby;  every  creature 
in  nature  is  joyful  and  frolicsome  while  it  is  young.  She 
is  as  tall  and  as  straight  as  any  of  her  friends  of  the 
same  age,  and  looks  more  healthy;  she  will  tame  down 
in  time,  and  I  dare  say  walk  and  look  as  prim  and  demure 
as  they  do.  I  was  watching  them  the  other  day  when 
there  was  a  party  of  them  up  here,  and  I  thought  the 
difference  was  all  to  her  advantage.  She  looked  a  natural, 
healthy  girl;  they  looked  like  a  set  of  overdressed  dolls, 
afraid  to  move  or  to  talk  loud,  or  to  stretch  their  mouths 
when  they  smile;  very  lady-like  and  nice,  no  doubt,  but 
you  will  see  Millicent  will  throw  them  into  the  shade 
when  she  is  once  past  the  tomboy  age.  Leave  her  alone, 
Mrs.  Cunningham;  a  girl  is  not  like  a  fruit  tree,  that 
wants  pruning  and  training  from  its  first  year;  it  will  be 
quite  time  to  get  her  into  shape  when  she  has  done 
growing." 

John  Thorndyke  had  occasionally  made  inquiries  of 
Mr.  Bastow  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  his  son.  At  the  time 
the  sentence  was  passed  transportation  to  the  American 
colonies  was  being  discontinued,  and  until  other  arrange- 
ments could  be  made  hulks  were  established  as  places  of 
confinement  and  punishment;  but  a  few  months  later 
Arthur  Bastow  was  one  of  the  first  batch  of  convicts  sent 
out  to  the  penal  settlement  formed  on  the  east  coast  of 
Australia.  This  was  intended  to  be  fixed  at  Botany  Bay, 
but  it  having  been  found  that  this  bay  was  open  and  un- 
sheltered, it  was  established  at  Sydney,  although  for 
many  years  the  settlement  retained  in  England  the  name 
of  the  original  site.  As  the  condition  of  the  prisoners 
kept  in  the  hulks  was  deplorable,  the  Squire  had,  through 
the  influence  of  Sir  Charles  Harris,  obtained  the  inclusion 
of  Bastow's  name  among  the  first  batch  of  those  who  were 
to  sail  for  Australia. 

Mr.  Bastow  obtained  permission  to  see  his  son  before 
sailing,  but  returned  home  much  depressed,  for  he  had 
been  assailed  with  such  revolting  and  blasphemous  Ian- 


66  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'B  SECRET. 

guage  by  him  that  he  had  been  forced  to  retire  in  horror 
at  the  end  of  a  few  minutes. 

"  We  have  done  well  in  getting  him  sent  off/'  the 
Squire  said,  when  he  heard  the  result  of  the  interview. 
"  In  the  first  place,  the  demoralizing  effect  of  these  hulks 
is  quite  evident,  and  it  may  be  hoped  that  in  a  new 
country,  where  there  can  be  no  occasion  for  the  convicts 
to  be  pent  up  together,  things  may  be  better;  for  although 
escapes  from  the  hulks  are  not  frequent,  they  occasionally 
take  place,  and  had  he  gained  his  liberty  we  should  have 
had  an  anxious  time  of  it  until  he  was  re-arrested,  whereas 
out  there  there  is  nowhere  to  go  to,  no  possibility  of 
committing  a  crime.  It  is  not  there  as  it  was  in  the 
American  colony.  Settlements  may  grow  up  in  time,  but 
at  present  there  are  no  white  men  whatever  settled  in  the 
district;  and  the  natives  are,  they  say,  hostile,  and  were 
a  convict  to  escape  he  would  almost  certainly  be  killed, 
and  possibly  eaten.  No  doubt  by  the  time  your  son  has 
served  his  sentence  colonies  will  be  established  out  there, 
and  he  may  then  be  disposed  to  settle  there,  either  on  a 
piece  of  land  of  which  he  could  no  doubt  take  up  or  in  the 
service  of  one  of  the  colonists." 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  scene  in  the  convict  yard  at  Sydney,  fire  \ears 
after  its  foundation  as  a  penal  settlement,  was  not  a  pleas- 
ant one  to  the  lover  of  humanity.  Warders  armed  to  the 
teeth  were  arranging  gangs  that  were  to  go  out  to  labor 
on  the  roads.  Many  of  the  convicts  had  leg-irons,  but 
so  fastened  as  to  be  but  slight  hindrance  to  their  working 
powers,  but  the  majority  were  unironed.  These  were  the 
better-behaved  convicts;  not  that  this  would  be  judged 
from  their  faces,  for  the  brutalizing  nature  of  the  system 
and  the  close  association  of  criminals  had  placed  its  mark 
on  all,  and  it  would  have  been  difficult  for  the  most  dis- 
criminating to  have  made  any  choice  between  the  most 
hardened  criminals  and  those  who  had  been  sent  out 
for  what  would  now  be  considered  comparatively  trivial 
offenses. 

The  voyage  on  board  ship  had  done  much  to  efface 
distinctions,  the  convict  life  had  done  more,  and  the  chief 
difference  between  the  chained  and  unchained  prisoners 
was  that  the  latter  were  men  of  more  timid  disposition 
than  many  of  their  companions,  and  therefore  less  dis- 
posed to  give  trouble  that  would  entail  heavy  punishment. 
But  it  was  only  the  comparatively  well-conducted  men 
who  were  placed  upon  road  work;  the  rest  were  retained 
for  work  inside  the  jail,  or  were  caged  in  solitary  con- 
finement. Each  morning  a  number,  varying  from  half 
a  dozen  to  a  dozen,  were  fastened  up  and  flogged,  in  some 
cases  with  merciless  severity,  but  it  was  seldom  that  a  cry 
was  uttered  by  these,  the  most  brutal  ruffians  of  the  con- 
vict herd. 

This  spectacle  was  just  over:  it  was  conducted  in  pub- 
lic for  the  edification  of  the  rest,  but,  judging  from  the 
low  laughs  and  brutal  jests,  uttered  below  the  breath, 
it  signally  failed  in  producing  the  desired  impression. 
Two  of  those  who  had  suffered  the  severest  punishment 
were  now  putting  on  their  coarse  woolen  garments  over 

67 


fe»  COLONEL   TSORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

their  bloodstained  shoulders;  both   were   comparatively 
young  men. 

"  I  shall  not  stand  this  much  longer,"  one  muttered. 
"  I  will  brain  a  warder,  and  get  hung  for  it.  One  can 
but  die  once,  while  one  can  get  flogged  once  a  week." 

"  So  would  I,"  the  other  said  bitterly;  "  but  I  have 
some  scores  to  settle  in  England,  and  I  am  not  going  to 
put  my  head  in  a  noose  until  I  have  wiped  them  out. 
The  sooner  we  make  arrangements  to  get  back  there  the 
better." 

"  Yes,  we  have  talked  of  this  oefore,"  the  other  said, 
"  and  I  quite  agreed  with  you  that  if  we  all  had  the 
pluck  of  men  we  ought  to  be  able  to  overpower  the 
warders,  in  spite  of  their  firearms.  Of  course  some  of  us 
would  get  killed,  but  no  one  would  mind  that  if  there 
was  but  the  remotest  chance  of  getting  away.  The 
question  is  what  we  should  do  with  ourselves  when  we 
were  once  outside  the  prison.  Of  course  I  know  that 
there  are  two  or  three  hundred  settlers,  but  there  would 
not  be  much  to  be  got  out  of  them,  and  life  among  those 
black  fellows,  even  if  they  were  civil  to  us,  which  I  don't 
suppose  they  would  be,  would  not  be  worth  having." 

-  "  We  might  not  have  to  stay  there  long;  ships  with 
stores  or  settlers  arrive  occasionally,  and  if  a  lot  of  us 
got  away  we  might  seize  one  by  force,  turn  pirates  for  a 
bit,  and  when  we  are  tired  of  that  sail  to  some  South 
American  port,  sell  our  capture,  and  make  our  way  home 
to  England.  If  we  were  not  strong  enough  to  take  her, 
we  could  hide  up  on  board  her;  we  should  be  sure  to  find 
some  fellow  who  for  a  pound  or  two  would  be  willing  to 
help  us.  The  thing  can  be  done  if  we  make  up  our  minds 
"lo  do  it,  and  I  for  one  have  made  up  my  mind  to  try.  I 
haven't  chalked  out  a  plan  yet,  but  I  am  convinced  that 
it  is  to  be  done." 

"  I  am  with  you,  whatever  it  is,"  the  other  said;  "  and 
I  think  there  are  twenty  or  thirty  we  could  rely  on.  I 
don't  say  there  are  more  than  that,  because  there  are  a 
lot  of  white-livered  cusses  among  them  who  would  inform 
against  us  at  once,  so  as  to  get  their  own  freedom  as  a  re- 
ward for  doing  so.  "Well,  we  will  both  think  it  over,  mate, 
and  the  sooner  the  better." 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  69 

• 

The  two  men  who  were  thus  talking  together  were  both 
by  birth  above  the  common  herd  of  convicts,  and  had 
gained  a  considerable  ascendency  over  the  others  because 
of  their  reckless  indifference  to  punishment  and  their 
defiance  of  authority.  Few  of  the  men  knew  each  other's 
real  names;  by  the  officials  they  were  simply  known  by 
numbers,  while  among  themselves  each  had  a  slang  name 
generally  gained  on  board  ship.  Separation  there  had, 
of  course,  been  impossible,  and  when  fastened  down  be- 
low each  had  told  his  story  with  such  embellishments 
as  he  chose  to  give  it,  and  being  but  little  interfered  with 
by  their  guards,  save  to  insure  the  impossibility  of  a 
mutiny,  there  had  been  fights  of  a  desperate  kind.  Four 
or  five  dead  bodies  had  been  found  and  thrown  overboard, 
but  as  none  would  testify  as  to  who  had  been  the  assail- 
ants none  were  punished  for  it;  and  so  the  strongest 
and  most  desperate  had  enforced  their  authority  over 
the  others,  as  wild  beasts  might  do,  and  by  the  time 
they  had  reached  their  destination  all  were  steeped  much 
deeper  in  wickedness  and  brutalism  than  when  they  set 
sail. 

The  two  men  who  were  speaking  together  had  speedily 
become  chums,  and,  though  much  younger  than  the  ma- 
jority of  the  prisoners,  had  by  their  recklessness  and 
ferocity  established  an  ascendency  among  the  others. 
This  ascendency  had  been  maintained  after  their  arrival 
by  their  constant  acts  of  insubordination,  and  by  their 
apparent  indifference  to  the  punishment  awarded  them. 
At  night  the  convicts  were  lodged  in  wooden  buildings, 
where,  so  long  as  they  were  not  riotous,  they  were  allowed 
to  talk  and  converse  freely,  as  indeed  was  the  case  when 
their  work  for  the  day  was  done. 

As  to  any  attempt  at  escape,  the  authorities  had  but 
small  anxiety,  for  until  the  arrival  of  the  first  settlers, 
three  years  after  that  of  the  convicts,  there  was  nowhere 
a  fugitive  could  go  to,  no  food  to  be  obtained,  no  shelter 
save  among  the  blacks,  who  were  always  ready  for  a  re- 
ward of  tobacco  and  spirits  to  hand  them  over  at  once 
to  the  authorities.  The  case  had  but  slightly  changed 
since  the  settlement  began  to  grow.  It  was  true  that  by 
stealing  sheep  or  driving  off  a  few  head  of  cattle  a  fugitive 


70  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

might  maintain  himself  for  a  time,  but  even  if  not  shot 
down  by  the  settlers  or  patrols,  he  would  be  sure  before 
long  to  be  brought  in  by  the  blacks.  The  experiment 
had  already  been  tried  of  farming  our  better-conducted 
convicts  to  the  settlers,  and  indeed  it  was  the  prospect  of 
obtaining  such  cheap  labor  that  had  been  the  main  induce- 
ment to  many  of  the  colonists  to  establish  themselves  so 
far  from  home,  instead  of  going  to  America. 

As  a  whole  the  system  worked  satisfactorily;  the  men 
were  as  much  prisoners  as  were  the  inmates  of  the  jail, 
for  they  knew  well  enough  that  were  they  to  leave  the 
farmers  and  take  to  the  bush  they  would  remain  free  but 
a  short  time,  being  either  killed  or  handed  over  by  the 
blacks,  and  in  the  latter  case  they  would  be  severely 
punished  and  set  to  prison  work  in  irons,  with  labor  very 
much  more  severe  than  that  they  were  called  upon  to  do 
on  the  farms. 

Some  little  time  after  the  conversation  between  the 
two  convicts  the  prison  authorities  were  congratulating 
themselves  upon  the  fact  that  a  distinct  change  had 
taken  or  was  taking  place  in  the  demeanor  of  many  of 
the  men  who  had  hitherto  been  the  most  troublesome, 
and  they  put  it  down  to  the  unusually  severe  floggings 
that  had  been  inflicted  on  the  two  most  refractory 
prisoners  in  the  establishment.  When  in  the  prison  yard 
or  at  work  they  were  more  silent  than  before,  and  did 
their  tasks  doggedly  and  sullenly;  there  was  no  open 
defiance  to  the  authorities,  and,  above  all,  a  marked 
cessation  of  drunkenness  from  the  spirits  smuggled  into 
the  place. 

Only  the  two  originators  were  aware  of  the  extent  of 
the  plot,  for  they  had  agreed  that  only  by  keeping  every 
man  in  ignorance  as  to  who  had  joined  it  could  they 
hope  to  escape  treachery.  In  the  first  place,  they  had 
taken  into  their  confidence  a  dozen  men  on  whom  they 
could  absolutely  rely.  Beyond  this  they  had  approached 
the  others  singly,  beginning  by  hinting  that  there  was  a 
plot  for  escape,  and  that  a  good  many  were  concerned, 
and  telling  them  that  these  had  bound  themselves  to- 
gether by  a  solemn  oath  to  kill  any  traitor,  even  if  hanged 
for  it. 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SEOBET.  71 

"  No  one  is  to  know  who  is  in  it  and  who  is  not,"  the 
leaders  said  to  each  new  recruit.  "  Every  man  will  be 
closely  watched  by  the  rest,  and  if  he  has  any  communi- 
cation privately  with  a  warder  or  any  other  official  he  will 
be  found  strangled  the  next  morning;  no  one  will  know 
who  did  it.  Even  if  he  succeeded  in  eluding  the  vigilance 
of  his  comrades  at  the  time,  it  would  soon  be  known; 
for  if  indulgence  of  any  kind  was  shown  towards  one  man, 
or  he  was  relieved  from  his  ordinary  work,  or  even  freed 
altogether  and  suddenly,  he  would  be  a  dead  man  in 
twenty-four  hours,  for  we  have  friends  outside  among  the 
ticket-of-leave  men  who  have  bound  themselves  to  kill  at 
once  any  man  set  free." 

To  the  question,  "  What  do  you  intend  to  do  when  we 
get  off?  "  the  answer  was,  "  We  shall  go  straight  to  the 
bush,  so  as  to  avoid  a  fight  with  the  soldiers,  in  the  first 
place;  then  we  shall  join  that  night,  and  drive  off  all  the 
cattle  and  sheep  from  the  settlements,  take  possession  of 
every  firearm  found  in  the  houses,  then  move  off  a  couple 
of  hundred  miles  or  so  into  the  bush,  and  establish  a  set- 
tlement of  our  own. 

"  Of  course,  we  shall  take  horses  and  clothes  and  any 
spirits  and  food  we  may  find.  If  the  soldiers  pursue  us, 
we  will  fight  them;  but  as  there  are  only  three  or  four 
companies  of  them,  and  we  shall  be  eight  hundred  strong, 
we  shall  very  soon  show  them  that  they  had  better  leave 
us  alone. 

"  Oh,  yes,  no  doubt  they  will  send  more  soldiers  out 
from  England,  but  it  will  be  over  a  year  before  they  can 
get  here;  and  we  propose  after  we  have  done  with  the 
fellows  here  to  break  up  into  parties  of  twenty  and  thirty, 
dividing  the  sheep  and  cattle  among  us,  and  each  party 
going  where  it  will.  The  place  is  of  tremendous  size,  as 
big  as  a  dozen  Englands,  they  say,  and  each  party  will  fix 
on  a  place  it  fancies,  where  there  is  good  water  and  a 
river  with  fish  and  so  on,  and  we  may  live  all  our  lives 
comfortably,  with  just  enough  work  to  raise  potatoes  and 
corn,  and  to  watch  our  stock  increasing.  Anyhow,  we  might 
calculate  on  having  some  years  of  peace  and  freedom, 
and  even  if  in  the  end  they  searched  us  all  out,  which 
would  be  very  unlikely,  they  could  but  bring  us  back, 


12  COLONEL   THOBNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

hang  a  few,  and  set  the  rest  to  work  again;  but  we  think 
that  they  would  most  likely  leave  us  alone  altogether,  quite 
satisfied  with  having  got  rid  of  us. 

"  Those  who  liked  it  could,  no  doubt,  take  wives  among 
the  blacks.  The  convict  women  who  are  out  on  service 
with  the  settlers  would,  you  may  be  sure,  join  us  at  once, 
and  an  enterprising  chap  who  preferred  a  white  woman 
to  a  black  could  always  make  his  way  down  here  and  per- 
suade one  to  go  off  with  him  to  his  farm.  That  is  the 
general  plan;  if  many  get  tired  of  the  life  they  have  only 
to  come  down  to  Sydney,  hide  up  near  the  place  on  some 
dark  night,  and  go  down  to  the  port,  seize  a  ship,  and 
make  off  in  her,  compelling  the  officers  and  sailors  to  take 
them  and  land  them  at  any  port  they  fancy,  either  in 
Chili,  Peru,  or  Mexico,  or,  if  they  like,  sail  west  and 
make  for  Eio  or  Buenos  Ayres  or  one  of  the  West  Indian 
islands.  As  to  when  it  is  going  to  be  done,  or  how  it  is 
going  to  be  done,  no  one  will  be  told  till  it  is  ready  to 
be  carried  out.  We  have  not  settled  that  ourselves,  and 
thus  one  who  was  fool  enough  to  risk  certain  death  could 
tell  the  Governor  no  more  than  that  there  was  a  plot  on 
hand,  and  that  the  man  who  had  sworn  him  in  was  con- 
cerned in  it." 

So  one  by  one  every  man  in  the  prison  was  sworn  by  a 
terrible  oath  to  secrecy,  to  watch  his  companions,  and  to 
report  anything  that  looked  suspicious.  Many  joined 
willingly,  the  prospect  of  relief,  even  should  it  only  be 
temporary,  being  too  fascinating  to  be  resisted.  Some 
joined  against  their  will,  fearing  that  a  refusal  to  do  so 
would  be  punished  by  death;  and  the  fact  that  two  or 
three  men  were  found  strangled  in  bed  had  a  very  great 
effect  in  inducing  others  to  join  in  the  plot.  These 
deaths  caused  some  uneasiness  to  the  authorities.  Their 
utmost  endeavors  failed  to  discover  who  were  the  perpe- 
trators of  these  murders;  and  even  when  everyone  in  the 
same  hut  was  flogged  to  obtain  information,  not  one 
opened  his  lips. 

One  night  the  word  was  passed  round  that  the  time 
had  come.  One  only  in  each  hut  was  familiar  with  the 
details,  and  he  gave  instructions  to  each  man  individually 
as  to  what  he  was  to  do.    The  date  had  been  determined 


COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET.  73 

by  the  fact  that  the  time  which  they  had  been  sen- 
tenced to  wear  irons  had  terminated  the  day  before,  and 
their  unusually  subdued  and  quiet  demeanor  having  car- 
ried them  through  the  interval  without,  as  usual,  fresh 
punishments  being  awarded  them  before  the  termination 
of  the  former  one. 

In  the  morning  the  whole  of  the  convicts  were  drawn 
up  to  witness  the  flogging  of  the  inmates  of  one  of  the 
huts,  where  a  man  had  been  found  strangled  the  morning 
before.  The  first  prisoner  was  taken  to  the  triangle, 
.'tripped  to  the  waist,  and  tied  up.  There  was  a  dead 
silence  in  the  ranks  of  the  convicts,  but  as  the  first  blow 
fell  upon  his  shoulders  there  was  a  loud  yell,  and  simul- 
taneously the  whole  ranks  broke  up,  and  a  number  of 
men  sprang  upon  each  of  the  warders,  wrested  their 
muskets  from  them,  and  threw  them  to  the  ground. 
Then  there  was  a  rush  towards  the  Governor  and  officers, 
who  were  assembled  in  front  of  the  stone  house  that 
faced  the  open  end  of  the  square.  Firing  their  pistols, 
these  at  once  took  refuge  in  the  house,  three  or  four 
falling  under  the  scattered  fire  that  was  opened  as  soon 
as  the  muskets  of  the  warders  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
convicts. 

Directly  the  doors  were  closed  the  officers  appeared  at 
the  windows,  and  opened  a  rifle  fire  upon  the  convicts, 
as  did  the  guards  near  the  gate.  As  comparatively  few 
of  the  convicts  had  muskets,  they  began  to  waver  at  once. 
But,  headed  by  the  two  ringleaders,  the  armed  party 
rushed  at  the  guard,  shot  them  down,  and  threw  open 
the  gate.  Then  an  unexpected  thing  occurred.  The 
soldiers  from  the  barracks  happened  to  be  marching  down 
to  do  target  practice  on  the  shore,  and  were  passing  the 
convict  prison  when  the  firing  broke  out.  They  were  at 
once  halted,  and  ordered  to  load,  and  as  the  convicts, 
■with  exultant  shouts,  poured  through  the  gate  they  saw  a 
long  line  of  soldiers,  with  leveled  muskets,  facing  them. 

"  At  them!  "  one  of  the  leaders  shouted.  "  It  is  too  late 
to  draw  back  now.    We  have  got  to  break  through  them." 

Many  of  the  convicts  ran  back  into  the  yard;  but  those 
armed  with  muskets,  the  more  desperate  of  the  party, 
followed  their  leaders.     A  moment  later  a  heavy  volley 


Y4  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

rang  out,  and  numbers  of  the  convicts  fell.  Their  two 
leaders,  however,  and  some  twenty  of  their  followers, 
keeping  in  a  close  body,  rushed  at  the  line  of  soldiers  with 
clubbed  muskets,  and  with  the  suddenness  and  fury  of 
the  rush  burst  their  way  through  the  line,  and  then  scat- 
tering, tied  across  the  country,  pursued  by  a  dropping 
fire  of  musketry.  The  officers  in  command,  seeing  that 
but  a  fraction  had  escaped,  ordered  one  company  to  pur- 
sue, and  marched  the  rest  into  the  prison  yard.  It  was 
already  deserted;  the  convicts  had  scattered  to  their  huts, 
those  who  had  arms  throwing  them  away.  Dotted  here 
and  there  over  the  square  were  the  bodies  of  eight  or 
ten  convicts  and  as  many  warders,  whose  skulls  had  been 
smashed  in  by  their  infuriated  assailants  as  soon  as  they 
had  obtained  possession  of  their  muskets. 

Close  to  the  gate  lay  the  six  soldiers  who  had  furnished 
the  guard;  these  were  all  dead  or  mortally  wounded. 
The  Governor  and  the  officials  issued  from  the  house  as 
soon  as  the  soldiers  entered  the  yard.  The  first  step  to 
do  was  to  turn  all  the  convicts  out  of  the  huts  and  to 
iron  them.  No  resistance  was  attempted,  the  sight  of 
the  soldiers  completely  cowing  the  mutineers.  .  When 
the  bodies  of  the  convicts  that  had  fallen  were  counted 
and  the  roll  of  the  prisoners  called  over,  it  was  found 
that  eighteen  were  missing,  and  of  these  six  were  during 
the  course  of  the  next  hour  or  two  brought  in  by  the 
soldiers  who  had  gone  in  pursuit  of  them.  The  rest  had 
escaped.  The  convicts  were  all  questioned  separately,  and 
the  tales  they  told  agreed  so  closely  that  the  Governor 
could  not  doubt  that  they  were  speaking  the  truth. 

All  had  been  sworn  in  by  one  of  two  men,  and  knew 
nothing  whatever  of  what  was  intended  to  be  done  that 
day,  until  after  they  were  locked  up  on  the  evening 
previous.  Each  of  those  in  the  huts  had  received  his  in- 
structions the  night  before  from  the  one  man.  There  were 
eighteen  huts,  each  containing  fifteen  convicts.  Of  the 
men  who  had  given  instructions  six  had  fallen  outside  the 
gate,  together  with  sixteen  others;  five  had  been  overtaken 
and  brought  in;  altogether,  twelve  were  still  at  large. 
Among  these  were  the  two  leaders. 

The  next  day  six  of  the  prisoners  were  tried  and  exe- 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  IS 

cuted.  The  rest  were  punished  only  by  a  reduction  in 
their  rations;  sentence  of  death  was  at  the  same  time 
passed  upon  the  twelve  still  at  large,  so  as  to  save  the 
trouble  of  a  succession  of  trials  as  they  were  caught  and 
brought  in. 

The  two  leaders  had  kept  together  after  they  had 
broken  through  the  line  of  soldiers. 

"  Things  have  gone  off  well,"  one  said  as  they  ran 
through.    "  Those  soldiers  nearly  spoilt  it  all." 

"  Yes,  that  was  unlucky,"  the  other  agreed;  "  but  so 
far  as  we  are  concerned,  which  is  all  we  care  about,  I 
think  things  have  turned  out  for  the  best." 

Nothing  more  was  said  until  they  had  far  outstripped 
their  pursuers,  hampered  as  these  were  by  their  uniforms 
and  belts. 

"  You  mean  that  it  is  not  such  a  bad  thing  that  they 
have  not  all  got  away?  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  what  I  mean.  It  is  all  very  well  to  tell 
them  about  driving  off  the  sheep  and  cattle  and  horses, 
and  going  to  start  a  colony  on  our  own  account,  but  the 
soldiers  would  have  been  up  to  us  before  we  had  gone  a 
day's  journey.  Most  of  the  fellows  would  have  bolted 
directly  they  saw  them.  As  it  is,  I  fancy  only  about  a 
dozen  have  got  away,  perhaps  not  as  many  as  that,  and 
they  are  all  men  that  one  can  rely  upon.  One  can  feed 
a  dozen  without  difficulty — a  sheep  a  day  would  do  it — 
and  by  giving  a  turn  to  each  of  the  settlers  the  animals 
won't  be  missed.  Besides,  we  shall  want  money  if  we 
are  ever  to  get  out  of  this  cursed  country.  It  would  not 
be  difficult  to  get  enough  for  you  and  me,  but  when  it 
comes  to  a  large  number  the  sack  of  the  whole  settlement 
would  not  go  very  far. 

"  My  own  idea  is  that  we  had  best  join  the  others  to- 
night, kill  a  few  sheep,  and  go  two  or  three  days'  march 
into  the  bush,  until  the  heat  of  the  pursuit  is  over.  We 
arc  all  armed,  the  blacks  would  not  venture  to  attack  us, 
and  the  soldiers  would  not  be  likely  to  pursue  us  very 
far.  In  a  week  or  so,  when  we  can  assume  that  matters 
have  cooled  down  a  bit,  we  can  come  down  again.  We 
know  all  the  shepherds,  and  even  if  they  were  not  disposed 
to  help  us  they  would  not  dare  to  betray  us,  or  report  a 


76  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

sheep  or  two  being  missing.  Of  course,  we  shall  have  to 
be  very  careful  to  shift  our  quarters  frequently.  Those 
black  trackers  are  sure  to  be  sent  out  pretty  often." 

"  As  long  as  we  are  hanging  about  the  settlements 
there  won't  be  much  fear  of  our  being  bothered  by  the 
blacks.  Of  course,  we  shall  have  to  decide  later  on 
whether  it  will  be  best  for  us  to  try  and  seize  a  ship,  all 
of  us  acting  together,  or  for  us  to  get  quietly  on  board 
one  and  keep  under  hatches  until  she  is  well  away.  That 
is  the  plan  I  fancy  most." 

"  So  do  I.  In  the  first  place  the  chances  are  that  in 
the  next  two  or  three  months  at  least  half  the  fellows 
will  be  picked  up.  To  begin  with,  several  of  them  are 
sure  to  get  hold  of  liquor  and  make  attacks  upon  the 
settlers,  in  which  case  some  of  them,  anyhow,  are  sure  to 
get  killed.  In  the  next  place,  most  of  them  were  brought 
up  as  thieves  in  the  slums  of  London,  and  will  have  no 
more  idea  of  roughing  it  in  a  country  like  this  than 
of  behaving  themselves  if  they  were  transported  to  a 
London  drawing  room.  Therefore,  I  am  pretty  sure  that 
at  the  end  of  three  months  we  shall  not  be  able  to  reckon 
on  half  of  them.  Well,  six  men  are  not  enough  to  cap- 
ture a  ship,  or,  if  they  do  capture  it,  to  keep  the  crew 
under.  One  must  sleep  sometimes,  and  with  only  three 
or  four  men  on  deck  we  could  not  hope  to  keep  a  whole 
ship's  crew  at  bay." 

"  Then  there  is  another  reason.  You  and  I,  when  we 
have  got  a  decent  rig-out,  could  pass  anywhere  without 
exciting  observation;  while  if  we  had  half  a  dozen  of  the 
others,  whatever  their  good  qualities,  they  would  be 
noticed  at  once  by  their  villainous  faces,  and  if  questions 
were  to  be  asked  we  should  be  likely  to  find  ourselves  in 
limbo  again  in  a  very  short  time.  So  I  am  all  for  work- 
ing on  our  own  account,  even  if  the  whole  of  the  others 
were  ready  to  back  us;  but,  of  course,  we  must  keep  on 
good  terms  with  them  all,  and  breathe  no  word  that  we 
think  that  each  man  had  better  shift  for  himself.  Some 
of  those  fellows,  if  they  thought  we  had  any  idea  of  leav- 
ing them,  would  go  straight  into  Sydney  and  denounce  us, 
although  they  would  know  that  they  themselves  would  be 
likely  to  swing  at  the  same  time." 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  11 

As  none  of  the  convicts  were  acquainted  with  the  bush, 
they  had  been  obliged  to  select  as  their  rendezvous  a  hut 
two  miles  out  of  the  town,  where  the  convict  gangs  that 
worked  on  the  road  were  in  the  habit  of  leaving  their 
tools.  On  the  way  there  the  two  men  killed  a  couple  of 
sheep  from  a  flock  whose  position  they  had  noticed  before 
it  became  dark.  These  they  skinned,  cut  off  the  heads, 
and  left  them  behind,  carrying  the  sheep  on  their  shoul- 
ders to  the  meeting. 

"Is  that  you,  Captain  Wild?"  a  voice  said  as  they 
approached. 

"  Yes;  Gentleman  Dick  is  with  me." 

"  That  is  a  good  job.  We  had  begun  to  think  that  the 
soldiers  had  caught  you." 

"  They  would  not  have  caught  us  alive,  you  may  take 
your  oath.    How  many  are  there  of  us  here?  " 

"  Ten  of  us,  Captain.  I  think  that  that  is  all  there 
are." 

"  That  is  enough  for  our  purpose.  Has  anyone  got 
anything  to  eat  ?  "  , 

There  was  a  deep  growl  in  the  negative. 

"  Well,  we  have  brought  a  couple  of  sheep  with  us, 
and  as  we  have  carried  them  something  like  a  mile,  you 
had  better  handle  them  by  turns.  We  will  strike  off  into 
the  bush  and  put  another  three  or  four  miles  between  us 
and  the  jail,  and  then  light  a  fire  and  have  a  meal." 

Two  of  the  men  came  forward  and  took  the  sheep. 
Then  they  turned  off  from  the  road,  and  taking  their 
direction  from  a  star,  followed  it  for  an  hour. 

"  I  think  we  have  got  far  enough  now,"  the  man  called 
Captain  Wild  said.  "  You  had-  better  cut  down  the 
bushes,  and  we  will  make  a  fire." 

"But  how  are  we  to  light  it?"  one  of  them  exclaimed 
in  a  tone  of  consternation.  "  I  don't  suppose  we  have  got 
flint  and  steel  or  tinder-box  among  us." 

"  Oh,  we  can  manage  that!  "  the  Captain  said.  "  Get  a 
heap  of  dried  leaves  here  first,  then  some  wood,  and  we 
will  soon  have  a  blaze." 

His  orders  were  obeyed.  Some  of  the  men  had  carried 
off  the  warders'  swords  as  well  as  their  muskets,  and  now 
used  them  for  chopping  wood.     As  soon  as  a  small  pile 


18  COLONEL   TIIORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

of  dried  leaves  was  gathered  the  Captain  broke  a  cart- 
ridge and  sprinkled  half  its  contents  among  them,  and 
then  dropped  the  remainder  into  his  musket.  He  flashed 
this  off  among  the  leaves,  and  a  bright  flame  at  once  shot 
up,  and  in  five  minutes  a  fire  was  burning.  One  of  the 
sheep  was  soon  cut  up,  the  meat  hacked  in  slices  from  the 
bones,  a  ramrod  was  thrust  through  the  pieces,  and,  sup- 
ported by  four  sticks,  was  laid  across  the  fire.  Three 
other  similarly  laden  spits  were  soon  placed  beside  it, 
and  in  a  short  time  the  meat  was  ready  for  eating. 
Until  a  hearty  meal  had  been  made  there  was  but  little 
talking. 

"  That  is  first-rate,"  one  of  the  men  said,  as  he  wiped 
his  mouth  with  the  back  of  his  hand.  "  Now  one  only 
wants  a  pipe  and  bacca  and  a  glass  of  grog,  to  feel  com- 
fortable." 

"  Well,  Captain,  are  you  satisfied  with  the  day's  work?  " 

"  It  would  have  been  a  grand  day  had  it  not  been  for 
the  soldiers  passing  just  at  the  time.  As  it  is,  Gentleman 
Dick  and  I  have  been  agreeing  that  as  far  as  we  are  all 
concerned  it  has  not  turned  out  so  badly.  There  would 
have  been  a  lot  of  difficulty  in  finding  food  if  we  had 
all  got  away,  and  some  of  those  mealy-mouthed  fellows 
would  have  been  sure  to  go  back  and  peach  on  us  at  the 
first  opportunity.  A  dozen  is  better  than  a  hundred  for 
the  sort  of  life  we  are  likely  to  lead  for  some  time.  We 
are  strong  enough  to  beat  off  any  attack  from  the  black 
fellows,  and  also  to  break  into  any  of  these  settlers' 
houses. 

"  We  can,  when  we  have  a  mind  to,  take  a  stray  sheep 
now  and  then,  or  even  a  bullock  would  scarcely  be  missed, 
especially  if  our  pals  in  the  settlement  will  lend  us  a 
helping  hand,  which  you  may  be  sure  they  will  do;  in  fact, 
they  would  know  better  than  to  refuse.  Then  a  large 
party  could  be  traced  by  those  black  trackers  at  a  run, 
while  a  small  one  would  not;  especially  if,  as  we  certainly 
will  do,  we  break  up  into  twos  and  threes  for  a  time. 
First  of  all,  though,  we  must  go  well  into  the  bush;  at 
daybreak  to-morrow  morning  we  will  drive  off  twenty 
sheep,  and  go  right  away  a  hundred  miles,  and  wait  there 
till  matters  have  settled  down.    They  will  never  take  the 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  19 

troops  out  that  distance  after  us.  Then  we  can  come 
back  again,  and  hang  about  the  settlement  and  take  what 
we  want.  The  wild  blacks  don't  come  near  there,  and  we 
shall  be  safer  in  pairs  than  we  should  be  if  we  kept  to- 
gether; and  of  course  we  could  meet  once  a  week  or  so 
to  talk  over  our  plans.  We  must  borrow  some  whisky, 
flour,  tea,  tobacco,  and  a  few  other  items  from  the  set- 
tlers, but  we  had  better  do  without  them  for  this  trip.  I 
don't  want  to  turn  the  settlers  against  us,  for  they  have 
all  got  horses,  and  might  combine  with  the  troops  to  give 
chase,  so  it  would  be  best  to  leave  them  alone,  at  any  rate 
till  we  get  back  again.  Another  reason  for  treating 
them  gently  is  that  even  if  they  did  not  join  the  troops 
they  might  get  into  a  funk,  and  drive  their  sheep  and 
horses  down  into  Sydney,  and  then  we  should  mighty 
soon  get  short  of  food.  It  will  be  quite  time  enough  to 
draw  upon  them  heavily  when  we  make  up  our  minds 
to  get  hold  of  a  ship  and  sail  away.  Money  would  be  of 
no  use  to  us  here,  but  we  shall  want  it  when  we  get  to  a 
port,  wherever  that  port  may  be." 

"  That  sounds  right  enough,  Captain,"  one  of  the  con- 
victs said,  "  and  just  at  present  nothing  would  suit  me 
better  than  to  get  so  far  away  from  this  place  that  I  can 
^ay  on  my  back  and  take  it  easy  for  a  spell." 

There  was  a  general  chorus  of  assent,  and  there  being 
neither  tobacco  nor  spirits,  the  party  very  soon  stretched 
themselves  off  to  sleep  round  the  fire.  In  the  morning 
they  were  up  before  daylight,  and  half  an  hour  later  ar- 
rived at  one  of  the  farms  farthest  from  Sydney.  Here 
they  found  a  flock  of  a  hundred  sheep.  The  shepherd 
came  to  the  door  of  his  hut  on  hearing  a  noise. 

"  You  had  best  lie  down  and  go  to  sleep  for  the  next 
hour,"  the  leader  of  the  convicts  said  sharply.  "  We 
don't  want  to  do  an  old  pal  any  harm,  and  when  you 
wake  up  in  the  morning  and  find  the  flock  some  twenty 
short,  of  course  you  won't  have  any  idea  what  has  become 
of  them." 

The  man  nodded  and  went  back  into  the  hut  and  shut 
the  door,  and  the  convicts  started  for  the  interior,  driving 
twenty  sheep  before  them.  During  the  first  day's  journey 
they  went  fast,  keeping  the  sheep  at  a  trot  before  them, 


80  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

and  continuing  their  journey  through  the  heat  of  the 
day. 

"  I  tell  you  what,  Captain,"  one  of  the  men  said  when 
they  halted  at  sunset,  "  if  we  don't  get  to  a  water-hole 
we  shall  have  to  give  up  this  idea  of  going  and  camping 
in  the  bush.  My  mouth  has  been  like  an  oven  all  day, 
and  it  is  no  use  getting  away  from  jail  to  die  of  thirst 
out  here." 

There  had  been  similar  remarks  during  the  day,  and 
the  two  leaders  agreed  together  that  it  would  be  madness 
to  push  further,  and  that,  whatever  the  risk,  they  would 
have  to  return  to  the  settlements  unless  they  could  strike 
water.  As  they  were  sitting  moodily  round  the  fire  they 
were  startled  by  a  dozen  natives  coming  forward  into  the 
circle  of  light.  These  held  out  their  hands  to  say  that 
their  intentions  were  peaceful. 

"Don't  touch  your  muskets!  "  Captain  Wild  exclaimed 
sharply,  as  some  of  the  men  were  on  the  point  of  jump- 
ing to  their  feet.  "  The  men  are  friendly,  and  we  may  be 
able  to  get  them  to  guide  us  to  water." 

The  natives,  as  they  came  up,  grinned  and  rubbed  their 
stomachs,  to  show  that  they  were  hungry. 

"  I  understand,"  the  Captain  said;  "  you  want  a  sheep, 
we  want  water; "  and  he  held  up  his  hand  to  his  mouth 
and  lifted  his  elbow  as  if  in  the  act  of  drinking. 

In  two  or  three  minutes  the  natives  understood  what 
he  wanted,  and  beckoned  to  the  men  to  follow.  The  tired 
sheep  were  got  onto  their  legs  again,  and  half  a  mile  away 
the  party  arrived  at  a  pool  in  what  in  wet  weather  was 
the  bed  of  a  river.  A  sheep  was  at  once  handed  over  to 
the  natives,  and  when  the  men  had  satisfied  their  thirst 
another  sheep  was  killed  for  their  own  use.  After  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  the  natives  were  made  to  understand  that 
the  white  men  wanted  one  of  their  party  to  go  with  them 
as  a  guide,  and  to  take  them  always  to  water-holes,  and  a 
boy  of  fifteen  was  handed  over  to  them  in  exchange  for 
two  more  sheep,  and  at  daybreak  the  next  morning  they 
started  again  for  the  interior,  feeling  much  exhilarated 
by  the  piece  of  luck  that  had  befallen  them.  They 
traveled  for  four  days  more,  and  then,  considering  that 
the  soldiers  had  ceased  their  pursuit  long  ago,  they  en- 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  8V 

camped  for  ten  days,  enjoying  to  the  utmost  their  recov- 
ered freedom  and  their  immunity  from  work  of  any  kind. 
Then  they  returned  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  settle- 
ments, and  broke  up,  as  their  leader  proposed,  into  pairs. 
They  had  been  there  but  a  short  time  before  the  depreda- 
tions committed  roused  the  settlers  to  band  themselves 
together.  Every  horse  that  could  be  spared  was  lent  to 
the  military,  who  formed  a  mounted  patrol  of  forty  men, 
while  parties  of  infantry,  guided  by  native  trackers,  were 
constantly  on  the  scent  for  the  convicts. 

"  This  is  just  what  I  expected,"  Captain  Wild  said  to 
his  lieutenant.  "  It  was  the  choice  of  two  evils,  and  I 
am  not  sure  that  the  plan  we  chose  was  not  the  worst. 
We  might  have  been  quite  sure  that  these  fellows  would 
not  be  able,  even  for  a  time,  to  give  up  their  old  ways. 
If  they  had  confined  themselves,  as  we  have  done,  to 
taking  a  sheep  when  they  wanted  it,  and  behaving  civilly 
when  they  went  to  one  of  the  houses  and  begged  for  a 
few  pounds  of  flour  or  tea,  the  settlers  would  have  made 
no  great  complaint  of  us;  they  know  what  a  hard  time 
we  have  had,  and  you  can  see  that  some  of  the  women 
were  really  sorry  for  us,  and  gave  us  more  than  wo 
actually  asked  for.  But  it  lias  not  been  so  with  the  others , 
They  had  been  breaking  into  houses,  stealing  every  • 
thing  they  could  lay  their  hands  upon,  and  in  three  -or 
four  cases  shooting  down  men  on  the  slightest  provo- 
cation. 

"  The  money  and  watches  were  no  good  to  them,  but 
the  brutes  could  not  help  stealing  them;  so  bere  we  are, 
and  the  settlement  is  like  a  swarm  of  angry  bees,  and 
this  plan  of  handing  over  most  of  their  horses  to  the 
military  will  end  in  all  of  us  being  hunted  down  if  we 
stay  here.  Two  were  shot  yesterday,  and  in  another  week 
we  shall  all  either  be  killed  or  caught.  There  is  noth- 
ing for  it  but  to  clear  out.  I  am  against  violence,  not 
on  principle,  but  because  in  this  case  it  sets  people's 
backs  up;  but  it  cannot  be  helped  now.  We  must  get  a 
couple  of  horses  to  ride,  and  a  spare  one  to  carry  our 
swag.  We  must  have  half  a  sack  of  flour  and  a  sheep — it 
is  no  use  taking  more  than  one,  because  the  meat  won't 
keep — and  a  good  stock  of  tea  and  sugar.    We  must  get 


82  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

a  good  supply  of  powder,  if  we  can,  some  bullets  and 
shot.    We  shall  have  to  get  our  meat  by  shooting. 

"  There  is  no  time  to  be  lost,  and  to-night  we  had 
netter  go  to  that  settler's  place  nearest  the  town.  Pie 
has  got  two  of  the  best  horses  out  here — at  least  so  Eed- 
grave,  that  shepherd  I  was  talking  to  to-day,  told  me — 
and  a  well-filled  store  of  provisions.  If  he  will  let  us 
have  them  without  rumpus,  all  well  and  good;  if  not,  it 
will  be  the  worse  for  him.  My  idea  is  that  we  should 
ride  two  or  three  hundred  miles  along  the  coast  until  we 
get  to  a  river,  follow  it  up  till  we  find  a  tidy  place  for 
a  camp,  and  stop  there  for  three  or  four  months,  then 
come  back  again  and  keep  ourselves  quiet  until  we  find 
<eut  that  a  ship  is  going  to  sail;  then  we  will  do  a  night 
among  the  farmhouses,  and  clean  them  out  of  their  watches 
and  money,  manage  to  get  on  board,  and  hide  till  we  are 
well  out  to  sea.  We  must  get  a  fresh  fit-out  before  we  go 
on  board;  these  clothes  are  neither  handsome  nor  becom- 
ing. We  must  put  on  our  best  manners,  and  tell  them  that 
we  are  men  who  have  served  our  full  time,  and  want  to 
get  back,  and  that  we  were  obliged  to  hide  because  we 
had  not  enough  to  pay  our  full  passage  money,  but  that 
we  have  enough  to  pay  the  cost  of  our  grub,  and  are  ready 
to  pull  at  a  rope  and  make  ourselves  useful  in  any  way. 
If  we  are  lucky  we  ought  to  get  enough  before  we  start 
to  buy  horses  and  set  ourselves  up  well  in  business  at 
home." 

"  I  think  that  is  a  very  good  plan,"  the  other  agreed, 
"  and  I  am  quite  sure  the  sooner  we  make  oursel^s 
scarce  here  the  better." 


CHAPTER  TI. 

While  arranging  for  young  Bastow  being  sent  out  with 
the  first  hatch  of  convicts  John  Thorndyke  had  been  in- 
troduced to  several  of  the  officials  of  the  Department, 
and  called  upon  them  at  intervals  to  obtain  news  of  the 
penal  colony.  Three  years  after  its  establishment  a 
Crown  colony  had  been  opened  for  settlement  in  its 
vicinity.  As  the  climate  was  said  to  be  very  fine  and  the 
country  fertile,  and  land  could  be  taken  up  without  pay- 
ment, the  number  who  went  out  was  considerable,  there 
being  the  additional  attraction  that  convicts  of  good  char- 
acter would  be  allotted  to  settlers  as  servants  and  farm 
hands. 

Six  years  after  Arthur  Bastow  sailed  the  Squire  learned 
that  there  had  been  a  revolt  among  the  convicts;  several 
had  been  killed,  and  the  munity  suppressed,  but  about  a 
dozen  had  succeeded  in  getting  away.  These  had  com- 
mitted several  robberies  and  some  murders  among  the 
settlers,  and  a  military  force  and  a  party  of  warders  from 
Aie  prison  were  scouring  the  country  for  them. 

"  Of  course,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  official  said,  "  the 
Governor  in  his  report  does  not  gives  us  the  names  of  any 
of  those  concerned  in  the  matter;  he  simply  says  that 
although  the  munity  was  general,  it  was  wholly  the  work 
of  a  small  number  of  the  worse  class  of  prisoners.  By 
worse  class  he  means  the  most  troublesome  and  refractory 
out  there.  The  prisoners  are  not  classified  according  to 
their  original  crimes.  A  poacher  who  has  killed  a  game- 
keeper, or  a  smuggler  who  has  killed  a  revenue  officer, 
may  in,  other  respects  be  a  quiet  and  well-conducted  man, 
while  men  sentenced  for  comparatively  minor  offenses 
may  give  an  immense  deal  of  trouble.  I  will,  however, 
get  a  letter  written  to  the  Governor,  asking  him  if 
Arthur  Bastow  was  among  those  who  took  part  in  the 
revolt,  and  if  so  what  has  become  of  him." 

83 


84  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

It  was  more  than  a  year  before  the  reply  came,  and 
then  the  Governor  reported  that  Arthur  Bastow,  who 
was  believed  to  have  been  the  leading  spirit  of  the  mutiny, 
was  among  those  who  had  escaped,  and  had  not  yet  been 
recaptured.  It  was  generally  believed  that  he  had  been 
killed  by  the  blacks,  but  of  this  there  was  no  actual 
proof.  Mr.  Bastow  was  much  disturbed  when  he  heard 
the  news. 

"  Suppose  he  comes  back  here,  Mr.  Thorndyke." 

"  I  won't  suppose  anything  of  the  sort,"  the  Squire 
replied.  "  I  don't  say  that  it  would  be  altogether  im- 
possible, because  now  that  vessels  go  from  time  to  time 
to  Sydney,  he  might,  of  course,  be  able  to  hide  up  in  one 
of  them,  and  not  come  on  deck  until  she  was  well  on  her 
way,  when,  in  all  probability,  he  would  be  allowed  to 
work  his  passage,  and  might  be  put  ashore  without  any 
information  being  given  to  the  authorities.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  among  the  sailors  there  would  be  a  good  deal 
of  sympathy  felt  for  the  convicts.  No  doubt  they  have 
a  hard  time  of  it,  and  we  know  that  the  gangs  working 
on  the  roads  are  always  ironed.  Still,  this  is  very  un- 
likely, and  the  chances  are  all  in  favor  of  his  being  in  hid- 
ing in  the  bush. 

"  The  shepherds  and  other  hands  on  the  farms  are 
chiefly  convicts,  and  would  probably  give  him  aid  if  he 
required  it,  and  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  getting  a 
sheep  now  and  then,  for,  as  all  reports  say,  one  of  the 
chief  troubles  out  there  are  the  wild  dogs,  or  dingoes,  as 
they  are  called;  any  loss  in  that  way  would  readily  be  put 
clown  to  them.  As  to  money,  he  would  have  no  occasion 
for  it;  if  he  wanted  it  he  would  get  it  by  robbing  the 
settlers.  He  would  know  that  if  he  came  back  here  he 
would  run  the  risk  of  being  seized  at  once  on  landing  or 
of  being  speedily  hunted  down  as  an  escaped  convict.  I 
don't  think  that  there  is  the  slightest  occasion  for  us  to 
trouble  ourselves  about  him." 

But  though  the  Squire  spoke  so  confidently,  he  felt  by 
no  means  sure  that  Arthur  Bastow  would  not  turn  up 
again,  for  his  reckless  audacity  had  made  a  great  impres- 
sion upon  him.  The  proceeds  of  the  robberies  in  the 
colony,  in  which  he  had  no  doubt  played  a  part,  would 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  85 

have  furnished  him  with  money  with  which  he  could 
bribe  a  sailor  to  hide  him  away  and,  if  necessary,  pay  his 
passage-money  to  England,  when  discovered  on  board, 
and  perhaps  maintain  him  when  he  got  home  until  he 
could  replenish  his  purse  by  some  unlawful  means.  Lastly, 
the  Squire  argued  that  the  fellow's  vindictive  nature 
and  longing  for  revenge  would  act  as  an  incentive  to 
bring  him  back  to  London.  He  talked  the  matter  over 
with  Mark,  who  was  now  a  powerful  young  fellow  of 
twenty,  who,  of  course,  remembered  the  incidents  attend- 
ing Bastow's  capture  and  trial. 

u  I  cannot  help  fancying  that  the  fellow  will  come 
back,  Mark." 

"  Well,  if  he  does,  father,  we  must  make  it  our  business 
to  lay  him  by  the  heels  again.  You  managed  it  last  time, 
and  if  he  should  turn  up  you  may  be  sure  I  will  help  you 
to  do  it  again." 

"  Yes,  but  we  may  not  hear  of  his  having  returned  until 
he  strikes  a  blow.  At  any  rate,  see  that  your  pistols  are 
loaded  and  close  at  hand  at  night." 

"  They  always  are,  father.  There  is  no  saying  when  a 
house  like  this,  standing  alone,  and  containing  a  good 
deal  of  plate  and  valuables,  may  be  broken  into." 

"  Well,  you  might  as  well  carry  them  always  when  you 
go  out  after  dark.  I  shall  speak  to  Knapp,  and  request 
him  to  let  me  know  if  he  hears  of  a  suspicious-looking 
character — any  stranger,  in  fact — being  noticed  in  or 
about  the  village,  and  I  shall  have  a  talk  with  Simcox,  the 
head  constable  at  Eeigate,  and  ask  him  to  do  the  same. 
He  is  not  the  same  man  who  was  head  at  the  time  Bastow 
was  up  before  us,  but  he  was  in  the  force  then,  and,  as 
one  of  the  constables  who  came  up  to  take  the  prisoners 
down  to  Keigate,  he  will  have  all  the  facts  in  his  mind. 
He  is  a  sharp  fellow,  and  though  Bastow  has  no  doubt 
changed  a  good  deal  since  then,  he  would  hardly  fail  to 
recognize  him  if  his  eye  fell  upon  him.  Of  course  we 
may  be  alarming  ourselves  unnecessarily,  but  there  are 
several  reasons  why  I  should  object  strongly  to  be  shot 
just  at  the  present  time." 

"  Or  at  any  other  time,  I  should  say,  father,"  the  young 
man  said  with  a  lau^h. 


86  COLONEL   THORNDYKE' S  SECRET. 

"  I  shall  know  him,  Squire,  safe  enough,"  the  head 
constable  replied  when  John  Thorndyke  went  down  to  see 
him  on  the  following  day;  "  but  I  should  think  that  if  he 
does  come  back  to  England  he  will  hardly  be  fool  enough 
to  come  down  here.  He  was  pretty  well  known  in  town 
before  that  affair,  and  everyone  who  was  in  the  court- 
house would  be  sure  to  have  his  face  strongly  impressed 
upon  their  minds.  You  may  forget  a  man  you  have  seen 
casually,  but  you  don't  forget  one  you  have  watched 
closely  when  he  is  in  the  dock  with  two  others  charged 
with  murder.  Five  out  of  my  six  men  were  constables  at 
that  time,  and  would  know  him  again  the  minute  they 
saw  him;  but  anyhow,  I  will  tell  them  to  keep  a  sharp 
lookout  in  the  tramps'  quarters,  and  especially  over  the 
two  or  three  men  still  here  that  Bastow  used  to  consort 
with.  I  should  say  that  Reigate  is  the  last  place  in  the 
world  where  he  would  show  his  face." 

"  I  hope  so,"  the  Squire  said.  "  He  has  caused  trouble 
enough  down  here  as  it  is$  his  father  is  getting  an  old 
man  now,  and  is  by  no  means  strong,  and  fresh  troubles 
of  that  kind  would  undoubtedly  kill  him." 

A  month  later  the  Eeigate  coach  was  stopped  when  a 
short  distance  out  of  the  town  by  two  highwaymen,  and 
a  considerable  prize  obtained  by  the  robbers.  Soon  after- 
wards came  news  of  private  carriages  being  stopped  on 
various  commons  in  the  South  of  London,  and  of  several 
burglaries  taking  place  among  the  houses  round  Clapham, 
Wandsworth,  and  Putney.  Such  events  were  by  no  means 
uncommon,  but  following  each  other  in  such  quick  suc- 
cession they  created  a  strong  feeling  of  alarm  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  neighborhood.  John  Thorndyke,  go- 
ing up  to  town  shortly  afterwards,  went  to  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Bow  Street  runners,  and  had  a  talk  with 
their  chief  in  reference  especially  to  the  stoppage  of  the 
Reigate  coach.  Mr.  Chetwynd  had  lately  died,  and  John 
Thorndyke  had  been  unanimously  elected  by  his  fellow- 
magistrates  as  chairman  of  the  bench. 

"  No,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  we  have  no  clew  whatever.  Our 
men  have  been  keeping  the  sharpest  watch  over  the  fel- 
lows suspected  of  having  a  hand  in  such  matters,  but  they 
all  seem  keeping  pretty  quiet  at  present,  and  none  of 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'JS  SECRET.  87 

them  seem  to  be  particularly  flush  with  money.  It  is  the 
same  with  these  burglaries  in  the  South  of  London.  "We 
are  at  our  wits'  end  about  them.  We  are  flooded  with 
letters  of  complaint  from  residents;  but  though  the  patrols 
on  the  common  have  been  doubled  and  every  effort  made, 
we  are  as  far  off  as  ever.  As  far  as  the  burglaries  are 
concerned,  we  have  every  reason  to  think  that  they  are 
the  work  of  two  or  three  new  hands.  The  jobs  are  not 
neatly  done,  and  certainly  not  with  tools  usually  used  by 
burglars.  They  seem  to  rely  upon  daring  rather  than 
skill.  Anyhow,  we  don't  know  where  to  look  for  them, 
and  are  altogether  at  sea. 

"  Of  course  it  is  as  annoying  to  us  as  it  is  to  anyone  else; 
more  so,  because  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  are  sending 
eomplaints  to  the  Home  Secretary,  and  he  in  turn  drops 
on  us  and  wants  to  know  what  we  are  doing.  I  have  a 
sort  of  fancy  myself  the  fellows  who  are  stopping  the 
coaches  are  the  same  as  those  concerned  in  the  burglaries. 
I  could  not  give  you  my  reasons  for  saying  so,  except  that 
on  no  occasion  has  a  coach  been  stopped  and  a  house 
broken  into  on  the  same  night.  I  fancy  that  at 
present  we  shan't  hear  much  more  of  them.  They  have 
created  such  alarm  that  the  coaches  carry  with  them  two 
men  armed  with  blunderbusses,  in  addition  to  the  guards, 
and  I  should  fancy  that  every  householder  sleeps  with 
pistols  within  reach,  and  has  got  arms  for  his  servants. 
At  many  of  the  large  houses  I  know  a  watchman  has 
been  engaged  to  sit  in  the  hall  all  night,  to  ring  the 
alarm-bell  and  wake  the  inmates  directly  he  hears  any 
suspicious  sounds.  Perhaps  the  fellows  may  be  quiet  for 
a  time,  for  they  must,  during  the  last  month,  have  got  a 
wonderful  amount  of  spoil.  Maybe  they  will  go  west — the 
Bath  road  is  always  a  favorite  one  with  these  fel- 
lows— maybe  they  will  work  the  nothern  side  of  the 
town.  I  hope  we  shall  lay  hands  upon  them  one  day, 
but  so  far  I  may  say  frankly  we  have  not  the  slightest 
clew." 

"  But  they  must  put  their  horses  up  somewhere?  " 
"  Yes,  but  unfortunately  there  are  so  many  small  way- 
side inns,  that  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  trace  them.     A 
number  of  these  fellows  are  in  alliance  with  the  high- 


88  '  COLONEL   THORNJDYKE'S  SECRET. 

waymen.  Some  of  them,  too,  have  small  farms  in  addi- 
tion to  their  public-honse  businesses,  and  the  horses  may 
he  snugly  put  up  there,  while  we  are  searching  the  inn 
stables  in  vain.  Again,  there  are  rogues  even  among  the 
farmers  themselves;  little  men,  perhaps,  who  do  not  farm 
more  than  thirty  or  forty  acres,  either  working  them 
themselves,  or  by  the  aid  of  a  hired  man  who  lives  per- 
haps at  a  village  a  mile  away.  To  a  man  of  this  kind, 
the  offer  of  a  couple  of  guineas  a  week  to  keep  two 
horses  in  an  empty  cowshed,  and  to  ask  no  questions,  is  a 
heavy  temptation. 

"  We  have  got  two  clever  fellows  going  ■  about  the 
country  inquiring  at  all  the  villages  whether  two  mounted 
men  have  lately  been  heard  going  through  there  late  at 
night,  or  early  in  the  morning,  so  as  to  narrow  down  the 
area  to  be  searched,  but  nothing  has  come  of  it,  although 
I  am  pretty  sure  that  they  must  have  three  or  four  places 
they  use  in  various  directions.  My  men  have  picked  up 
stories  of  horsemen  being  heard  occasionally,  but  they 
come  from  various  directions,  and  nowhere  have  they 
been  noticed  with  any  regularity.  Besides,  there  are  other 
knights  of  the  road  about,  so  we  are  no  nearer  than  'we 
were  on  that  line  of  inquiry." 

A  month  later  John  Thorndyke  had  occasion  to  go  up 
again  to  town.  This  time  Mark  accompanied  him.  Both 
carried  pistols,  as  did  the  groom,  sitting  behind  them.  The 
Squire  himself  was  but  a  poor  shot,  but  Mark  had  prac- 
ticed a  great  deal. 

"  ?Tis  a  good  thing  to  be  able  to  shoot  straight,  Mark," 
his  father  had  said  to  him  three  years  before.  "  I  abhor 
dueling,  but  there  is  so  much  of  it  at  present  that  any 
gentlemen  might  find  himself  in  a  position  when  he  must 
either  go  out  or  submit  to  be  considered  a  coward.  Then, 
too,  the  roads  are  infested  by  highwaymen.  For  that 
reason  alone  it  would  be  well  that  a  man  should  be  able 
to  shoot  straight.  You  should  also  practice  sometimes  at 
night,  setting  up  some  object  at  a  distance  so  that  you 
can  just  make  out  its  outline,  and  taking  a  dozen  shots  at 
it.  I  know  it  is  very  difficult  when  you  cannot  see  your 
own  pistol,  but  you  can  soon  learn  to  trust  to  your  arm 
to  come  up  to  the  right  height  and  in  the  right  direction. 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  89 

Of  course  you  must  wait  until  morning  to  find  out  where 
your  bullet  has  gone." 

Two  days  after  they  had  reached  town  the  Squire  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Mrs.  Cunningham. 

"  Deae  Me.  Thoendtke: 

"  Knapp  has  been  up  this  morning  to  tell  me  that  a 
stranger  dismounted  yesterday  at  the  alehouse,  and  while 
his  horse  was  being  fed  he  asked  a  few  questions.  Among 
others,  he  wished  to  be  told  if  you  were  at  home,  saying 
that  he  had  known  you  some  fifteen  years  ago,  when  you 
lived  near  Hastings,  and  should  like  to  have  a  talk  with 
you  again.  In  fact,  he  had  turned  off  from  the  main  road 
ior  the  purpose.  He  seemed  disappointed  when  he  heard 
that  you  had  gone  up  to  town,  and  hearing  that  you  might 
not  be  back  for  three  or  four  days,  said  he  should  be  com- 
ing back  through  Eeigate  in  a  week  or  ten  days,  and  he 
dared  say  he  should  be  able  to  find  time  to  call 'again. 
Knapp  did  not  hear  about  it  until  this  morning;  he  asked 
the  landlord  about  the  man,  and  the  landlord  said  he  was 
about  thirty,  dark,  and  sparely  built.  He  did  not  notice 
his  horse  particularly,  seeing  that  it  was  such  as  a  small 
squire  or  farmer  might  ride.  He  carried  a  brace  of  pistols 
in  his  holsters.  The  landlord  was  not  prepossessed  with 
his  appearance,  and  it  was  that  that  made  him  speak  to 
Knapp  about  him.  I  have  told  the  men  to  unfasten  the 
dogs  every  night,  and  I  have  asked  Knapp  to  send  up  two 
trustworthy  men  to  keep  watch." 

"  It  may  mean  something,  and  it  may  not,"  the  Squire 
said,  as  he  handed  the  letter  to  Mark.  "  It  is  a  siis- 
picious-looking  circumstance;  if  the  fellow  had  been  hon- 
est he  would  surely  have  said  something  about  himself. 
There  is  no  doubt  these  housebreakers  generally  find  out 
what  chance  there  is  of  resistance,  and,  hearing  that  we 
were  both  away,  may  have  decided  on  making  an  attempt. 
I  have  pretty  well  finished  our  business  and  ordered  nearly 
all  the  provisions  that  Mrs.  Cunningham  requires.  13ut 
J  have  to  call  at  my  lawyer's,  and  that  is  generally  a 
Longish  business.  It  is  half-past  two  o'clock  now;  if  we 
start  from  here  at  five  we  shall  be  down  soon  after  eight* 


90  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

which  will  be  quite  soon  enough.  "We  shall  have  a  couple 
of  hours'  drive  in  the  dark,  but  that  won't  matter,  we 
have  got  the  lamps." 

"  I  am  quite  ready  to  start,  father.  I  am  engaged  to 
sup  with  Eeginald  Ascot,  but  I  will  go  over  this  afternoon 
and  make  my  excuses." 

At  five  o'clock  they  started. 

"  You  have  got  your  pistols  in  order,  Mark? "  the 
Squire  asked,  as  they  drove  over  London  Bridge. 

"  I  have  them  handy,  father,  one  in  each  pocket." 

"James,  are  your  pistols  charged?" 

"  Yes,  sir." 

At  six  o'clock  it  was  beginning  to  get  dusk,  and  they 
stopped  while  the  groom  got  down  and  lit  the  lamps; 
then  they  resumed  their  journey.  They  were  within  five 
miles  of  Eeigate  when  suddenly  two  horsemen  rode  out 
from  a  side  road  with  a  shout  of  "  Stand  and  deliver!  " 

The  Squire  lashed  the  horses,  and  a  moment  later  a 
pistol  was  fired,  and  the  ball  went  through  his  hat.  By 
the  light  of  the  lamps  Mark  saw  the  other  man  raise  his 
hand,  and,  leveling  his  pistol,  fired  on  the  instant;  then, 
as  there  was  no  reply  to  his  shot,  he  discharged  the  second 
barrel  at  the  first  who  had  fired,  and  who  had  at  once 
drawn  another  pistol.  The  two  reports  rang  out  almost 
at  the  same  moment,  but  Mark's  was  a  little  the  first. 
There  was  a  sharp  exclamation  of  pain  from  the  high- 
wayman, who  wrenched  round  his  horse  and  galloped  down 
the  lane  from  which  he  had  issued,  the  groom  sending 
two  bullets  after  him. 

"Where  is  the  other  man?"  Mark  exclaimed,  as  his 
father  reined  in  the  horses. 

"  Somewhere  on  the  ground  there,  Mark;  I  saw  him  fall 
from  his  saddle  as  we  passed  him." 

"  Is  it  any  use  pursuing  the  other,  father?  I  am  pretty 
sure  I  hit  him." 

"  I  am  quite  sure  you  did,  but  it  is  no  good  our  fol- 
lowing; the  side  roads  are  so  cut  up  by  ruts  that  we  should 
break  a  spring  before  we  had  gone  a  hundred  yards.  No, 
we  will  stop  and  look  at  this  fellow  who  is  unhorsed, 
Mark." 

The  groom  got  down,  and,  taking  one  of  the  carriage 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  91 

lamps,  proceeded  to  a  spot  where  the  highwayman's  horse 
was  standing.  The  man  was  already  dead,  the  hullet  hav- 
ing hit  him  a  few  inches  above  the  heart. 

"  He  is  dead,  father." 

"  I  think  you  had  better  lift  him  up  on  the  foot-board 
behind;  James  can  ride  his  horse.  We  will  hand  the  body 
over  to  the  constable  at  Beigate.  He  may  know  who  he 
is,  or  find  something  upon  him  that  may  afford  a  clew  that 
will  lead  to  the  capture  of  his  companion." 

"  No,  I  don't  know  him,  Squire,"  the  constable  said  as 
they  stopped  before  his  house  and  told  him  what  had 
happened.  "However,  he  certainly  is  dead,  and  I  will 
get  one  of  the  men  to  help  me  carry  him  into  the  shed 
behind  the  courthouse.  So  you  say  that  you  think  that 
the  other  is  wounded?  " 

"  I  am  pretty  sure  he  is.  I  heard  him  give  an  exclama- 
tion as  my  son  fired." 

"  That  is  good  shooting,  Mr.  Mark,"  the  constable  said. 
"  If  every  passenger  could  use  his  arms  as  you  do  there 
would  soon  be  an  end  to  stopping  coaches.  I  will  see  what 
he  has  got  about  him,  and  will  come  up  and  let  you  know, 
Squire,  the  first  thing  in  the  morning." 

"  I  will  send  Knapp  down,"  John  Thorndyke  said,  as 
they  drove  homewards.  "  I  am  rather  curious  to  know  if 
this  fellow  is  the  same  Mrs.  Cunningham  wrote  about.  I 
will  tell  him  to  take  Peters  along  with  him." 

"  I  hardly  see  that  there  can  be  any  connection  between 
the  two.  Highwaymen  don't  go  in  for  housebreaking. 
I  think  they  consider  that  to  be  a  lower  branch  of  the 
profession." 

"  Generally  they  do,  no  doubt,  Mark;  but  you  know  I 
told  you  that  the  chief  at  Bow  Street  said  that  he  had 
a  suspicion  that  the  highway  robbers  and  the  house- 
breakers who  have  been  creating  so  much  alarm  are  the 
same  men." 

"  It  is  curious  that  they  should  have  happened  to  light 
on  us,  father,  if  they  were  intending  to  break  into  our 
house." 

John  Thorndyke  made  no  reply,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
drove  up  to  the  house.  Their  return,  a  couple  of  days 
before  they  were  expected,  caused  great  satisfaction  to 


92  COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Millicent.  The  former,  however, 
had  wisely  kept  from  the  girl  the  matter  on  which  she 
had  written  to  the  Squire,  and  the  suspicion  she  had 
herself  entertained. 

"  It  is  very  dull  without  you  both,"  Millicent  said.  "  I 
was  telling  Mrs.  Cunningham  that  I  thought  it  would  be 
a  good  thing,  when  you  got  hack,  for  us  two  to  take  a 
run  up  to  town  for  a  week,  just  to  let  you  see  how  dull 
the  place  is  when  two  of  us  are  away.  You  are  looking 
quite  serious,  uncle.     Is  anything  the  matter?  " 

"  Happily  nothing  is  the  matter  with  us,  dear,  but  we 
have  had  an  adventure,  and  not  a  very  pleasant  one." 

"What  was  it?"  the  girl  asked. 

"  If  you  examine  my  hat  closely,  Millicent,  it  will  tell 

you." 

The  girl  took  up  the  hat  from  a  chair  on  which  he  had 
put  it,  and  brought  it  to  the  light. 

"  There  are  two  holes  in  it,"  she  said.  "  Oh,  Guardy, 
have  you  been  shot  at?  " 

"  It  looks  like  it,  dear.  Two  gentlemen  highwaymen — • 
at  least,  that  is  what  I  believe  they  call  themselves — asked 
us  pressingly  to  stop,  and  as  we  would  not  comply  with 
their  request,  one  fired  at  me,  and,  as  you  see,  it  was  an 
uncommonly  good  shot.  The  other  was  about  to  fire 
when  Mark's  pistol  put  a  stop  to  him,  and  his  second 
barrel  stopped  the  fellow  who  had  fired  first;  he  was  hit, 
for  we  heard  him  give  an  exclamation  of  pain,  but  before 
any  more  shooting  could  be  done  he  turned  and  rode  off 
down  a  narrow  lane  where  we  could  not  follow." 

"  And  what  became  of  the  first  ?  "  Millicent  asked  with 
open  eyes. 

"  He  was  dead  before  we  could  get  down  to  examine 
him;  he  will  not  disturb  the  King's  peace  again.  It 
happened  about  four  miles  from  home,  so  we  brought 
him  in  and  gave  him  and  his  horse  into  the  charge  of  the 
-constable  at  Reigate." 

"And  you  have  really  killed  a  man?"  Millicent  said, 
looking  up  with  an  awestruck  expression  to  Mark. 

"  Well,  as  the  man  would  have  killed  us  if  I  hadn't,  I 
cannot  say,  Millicent,  that  his  death  weighs  in  any  way 
heavily  on  my  mind.     If  he  were  as  good  a  shot  as  the 


COLONEL   TIIORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  93 

other,  my  father's  life  would  not  have  been  worth  much, 
for  as  we  were  driving  fast,  he  was  not  above  half  as  far 
away  as  the  other  had  been  when  he  fired.  Just  the 
same,  I  suppose,  as  it  would  be  in  a  battle;  a  man  is 
going  to  shoot  you,  and  you  shoot  him  first,  and  I  don't 
suppose  it  ever  troubles  you  afterwards." 

"  Of  course  I  don't  mean  that  I  blame  you,  Mark;  but 
it  does  seem  shocking." 

"  I  don't  suppose  you  would  think  that,  Millicent,  if  a 
burglar,  who  had  taken  one  shot  at  you  and  was  about 
to  finish  you  with  another,  was  cut  short  in  the  operation 
by  a  shot  from  my  pistol.  I  believe  that  your  relief  and 
thankfulness  would  be  so  great  that  the  idea  that  it  was 
a  shocking  thing  for  me  to  do  would  not  as  much  as  enter 
your  head." 

"  I  wish  you  had  shot  the  other  man  as  well  as  the  one 
you  did,  Mark,"  the  Squire  said,  as  he  walked  with  his  son 
down  to  Eeigate  to  attend  the  inquest  the  next  morning 
on  the  man  he  had  brought  in. 

Mark  looked  at  bis  father  in  surprise. 

"  There  is  no  doubt  I  hit  him,  father,"  he  said;  "  but  I 
should  not  think  that  he  will  be  likely  to  trouble  us 
again." 

"  1  wish  I  felt  quite  sure  of  that.  Do  you  know  that  I 
have  a  strong  suspicion  that  it  was  Arthur  Bastow?  " 

Mark  had,  of  course,  heard  of  Bastow's  escape,  but 
had  attached  no  great  importance  to  it.  The  crime  had 
taken  place  nearly  eight  years  before,  and  although 
greatly  impressed  at  the  time  by  the  ill-doings  of  the 
man,  the  idea  that  he  would  ever  return  and  endeavor  to 
avenge  himself  on  his  father  for  the  part  he  had  taken 
had  not  occurred  to  him.  Beyond  mentioning  his  escape, 
the  Squire  had  never  talked  to  him  on  the  subject. 

"  It  was  he  who  bade  us  stand  and  deliver,  and  the 
moment  he  spoke  the  voice  seemed  familiar  to  me,  and, 
thinking  it  over,  I  have  an  impression  that  it  was  his.  I 
may  be  mistaken,  for  I  have  had  him  in  my  mind  ever 
since  I  heard  that  he  had  escaped,  and  may  therefore 
have  connected  the  voice  with  him  erroneously,  and  yet  I 
cannot  but  think  that  I  was  right.  You  see,  there  are 
two    or    three    suspicious    circumstances.      In    the    first 


94  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

place,  there  was  this  man  down  here  making  inquiries, 
Knapp  went  down  early  this  morning  with  the  innkeeper, 
and  told  me  before  breakfast  that  Peters  at  once  recog- 
nized the  fellow  you  shot  as  the  man  who  had  made  the 
inquiries.  Now,  the  natural  result  of  making  inquiries 
would  have  been  that  the  two  men  would  the  next  even- 
ing have  broken  into  the  house,  thinking  that  during 
our  absence  they  would  meet  with  no  resistance.  Instead 
of  doing  this  they  waylaid  us  on  the  road,  which  looks 
as  if  it  was  me  they  intended  to  attack,  and  not  the 
house." 

"  But  how  could  they  have  known  that  it  was  us, 
father?  It  is  certainly  singular  that  one  of  the  two  men 
should  have  been  the  fellow  who  was  up  at  the  inn,  but 
it  may  be  only  a  matter  of  coincidence." 

"  I  don't  know,  Mark;  I  don't  say  that  singular  coinci- 
dences don't  occur,  but  I  have  not  much  faith  in  them. 
Still,  if  they  were  journeying  down  to  attack  the  house  last 
night  they  would  hardly  have  stopped  travelers  by  the 
way  when  there  was  a  rich  booty  awaiting  them,  as  they 
evidently  believed  there  was,  or  that  man  would  not  have 
come  down  specially  to  make  inquiries.  My  own  impres- 
sion is  that  when  they  heard  that  we  should  return  in 
two  or  three  days  one  of  them  watched  us  in  London, 
and  as  soon  as  they  learned  that  we  were  to  start  for 
home  at  five  o'clock  they  came  down  here  to  stop  us. 
They  would  hardly  have  done  that  merely  to  get  our 
watches  and  what  money  we  had  in  our  pockets." 

"  No,  I  should  think  not,  father;  but  they  might  be 
friends  of  men  who  have  got  into  trouble  at  Reigate,  and, 
as  you  are  chairman  of  the  bench,  may  have  had  a  special 
grudge  against  you  for  their  conviction." 

"  That  is,  of  course,  possible,  and  I  hope  that  it 
is  so." 

"  But  even  if  Arthur  Bastow  had  escaped,  father,  why 
should  he  come  back  to  England,  where  he  would  know 
that  he  might  be  arrested  again,  instead  of  staying  quietly 
out  in  Australia?  " 

"  There  are  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place  the  life 
out  there  would  not  be  a  quiet  one;  there  would  be 
nothing  for  him  but  to  attack  and  rob  the  settlers,  and 


COLONEL  THOBNDTKE'8  SECRET.  95 

this,  as  they  are  sure  to  be  armed,  is  a  pretty  dangerous 
business.  Then  there  are  perils  from  the  blacks,  and 
lastly,  such  a  life  would  be  absolutely  devoid  of  comfort, 
and  be  that  of  a  hunted  dog,  living  always  in  the  bush, 
scarcely  venturing  to  sleep  lest  he  should  be  pounced 
upon  either  by  the  armed  constables  of  the  colony  or  by 
the  blacks.  It  is  not  as  if  the  country  were  extensively 
populated;  there  are  not  a  very  large  number  of  settlers 
there  yet,  and  therefore  very  small  scope  for  robbers. 
These  people  would  keep  very  little  money  with  them, 
and  the  amount  of  plunder  to  be  got  would  be  small  in- 
deed. Therefore,  I  take  it  that  the  main  object  of  any 
escaped  convict  would  be  to  get  away  from  the  place. 

"  That  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  fellow  might 
come  back  to  England  in  spite  of  the  risks.  The  other 
is  that  I  believe  him  to  be  so  diabolically  vindictive  that 
he  would  run  almost  any  peril  in  order  to  obtain  revenge 
upon  me  or  his  father.  Twice  he  has  threatened  me,  the 
first  time  when  we  captured  him,  the  second  time  as  he 
left  the  court  after  he  had  received  his  sentence.  I  am 
not  a  coward,  so  far  as  I  know,  Mark,  but  I  am  as  certain 
as  I  stand  here  that  he  meant  what  he  said,  and  that, 
during  these  years  of  imprisonment  and  toil  out  there, 
he  has  been  cherishing  the  thought  of  coming  home 
some  day  and  getting  even  with  me.  You  see,  he  is  said 
to  have  been  the  leader  of  this  convict  revolt.  There  is 
no  doubting  his  daring,  and  to  my  mind  the  attack  upon 
us  last  night,  when  they  knew  that  they  could  have  man- 
aged a  successful  robbery  here,  points  to  the  fact  that  iV 
was  the  result  of  personal  animosity,  and  strengthens  my 
belief  that  it  was  Arthur  Bastow  who  called  upon  us  to 
stand  and  deliver." 

"  It  is  a  very  unpleasant  idea,  father." 

"  Very  unpleasant,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  we  should 
at  any  rate  spare  no  pains  in  hunting  the  man  you 
wounded  down." 

"  I  will  undertake  that  if  you  like.  I  have  nothing 
particular  to  do,  and  it  would  be  an  excitement.  You 
have  a  lot  to  keep  you  here." 

"  I  don't  fancy  that  you  will  find  it  an  excitement, 
Mark,  for  of  course  the  detectives  will  do  the  hunting, 


96  COLONEL   THOBNDYJIE'S  SECRET. 

but  I  should  certainly  be  glad  if  you  would  take  a  letter 
for  me  to  the  head  of  the  Detective  Department,  and  tell 
him  what  I  think,  and  my  reasons  for  thinking  so,  and 
say  that  I  offer  a  reward  of  a  hundred  pounds  for  the 
capture  of  the  man  who  tried  to  stop  us,  and  who  was, 
we  are  certain,  wounded  by  you.  Unless  he  has  some 
marvelously  out-of-the-way  hiding-place,  it  ought  not 
to  be  difficult.  A  wounded  man  could  scarcely  lie  hidden 
in  the  slums  of  London  without  it  being  known  to  a 
good  many  people,  to  some  of  whom  a  reward  of  the 
sum  of  a  hundred  pounds  would  be  an  irresistible 
temptation." 

By  this  time  they  had  reached  Eeigate.  The  inquest 
did  not  last  many  minutes,  and  the  jury  without  hesita- 
tion returned  a  verdict  of  justifiable  homicide. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  next  morning  Mark  went  np  to  London. 

"  Of  course,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  chief  at  Bow  Street 
said,  "  your  father's  suspicions  as  to  the  man's  identity 
may  or  may  not  be  justified;  that,  however,  makes  no 
difference  to  us.  Here  is  a  highwayman  who  has  been 
wounded,  and  would  certainly  be  a  valuable  capture.  I 
will  set  my  men  to  work  at  once;  if  he  is  in  London 
they  will  get  news  of  him  before  many  days.  My  men 
in  any  case  would  do  their  duty,  but  your  father's  offer 
will  certainly  stimulate  their  energy.  Where  are  you 
stopping?  " 

"  At  the  Bull,  in  Holborn." 

"  Very  well;  I  will  be  sure  to  let  you  know  as  soon  as 
we  get  any  clew  to  the  man's  identity." 

Mark  remained  in  London  a  Aveek,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time  he  received  a  note  from  Bow  Street  saying  that 
the  superintendent  wished  to  see  him. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  no  news  for  you,  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke,"  the  officer  said,  when  he  called  unon  him.  "  Every 
place  where  such  a  man  would  be  likely  to  be  in  hiding 
has  been  searched,  and  no  clew  whatever  has  been  obtained. 
We  shall  now  circulate  notices  of  the  reward  throughout 
the  country.  If  the  man  was  at  all  severely  hit,  we  may 
assume  that  he  must  be  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood 
of  London,  whereas,  if  the  wound  was  a  slight  one,  he 
might  be  able  to  go  a  long  distance,  and  may  be  now  in 
York,  for  aught  we  know.  However,  now  that  the  search 
in  London  has  terminated,  I  can  really  see  no  use  in  your 
staying  here  any  longer;  we  will  let  you  know  directly  we 
have  any  news." 

Three  months  later  John  Thorndyke  received  a  letter 
from  the  Detective  Office  asking  him  to  call  the  next 

97 


98  COLONEL  THORND TEE'S  SECRET. 

time  he  came  up  to  town,  as  although  no  news  had  been 
obtained  that  would  lead  to  the  man's  immediate  arrest, 
news,  had,  at  any  rate,  been  obtained  showing  that  he  was 
alive.  It  happened  that  Mark  was  intending  to  go  up  on 
the  following  day,  and  his  father  asked  him  to  call  for 
him  at  Bow  Street. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  we  have  heard  about  your  man, 
and  that  after  we  had  quite  abandoned  the  search.  I 
had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  wound  you  gave  him 
had  been  a  fatal  one,  and  that  he  had  been  quietly  buried 
by  some  of  the  people  with  whom  he  was  connected.  The 
discovery  was,  as  half  these  discoveries  generally  are,  the 
result  of  accident.  Last  week  a  gentleman  entered  the 
Bank  and  asked  for  change  in  gold  for  a  fifty-pound  note. 
The  cashier,  looking  at  the  number,  found  that  it  was 
one  of  those  that  had  been  stolen  from  a  passenger  by  one 
of  the  south  coaches  several  months  ago.  The  gentleman 
was  at  once  taken  into  a  private  office,  and  questioned  as 
to  how  he  had  obtained  the  note.  The  account  that  he 
gave  was  that  he  was  a  surgeon  in  practice  at  Southampton. 
A  gentleman  had  arrived  there  on  a  date  which  we  found 
to  be  the  day  after  that  on  which  you  were  stopped;  he 
was  well-dressed,  and  had  the  air  of  a  gentleman;  he  had 
come  down  by  coach,  and  was  evidently  very  ill.  He 
told  the  surgeon  that  he  had  been  engaged  in  a  duel, 
that  the  pistols  had  been  discharged  simultaneously,  and 
that  he  had  killed  his  man,  but  had  himself  been  severely 
wounded.  He  said  that  the  person  whom  he  had  killed 
had  influential  connections,  and  that  it  would  be  neces- 
sary for  him  to  remain  in  seclusion  for  a  time,  and  he 
asked  him  to  take  charge  of  his  case,  as  he  had  ample 
means  of  paying  him  handsomely.  The  surgeon  examined 
the  wound,  and  found  it  to  be  indeed  a  serious  one,  and, 
as  he  thought,  probably  fatal.  However,  having  no  doubt 
as  to  the  truth  of  the  story,  he  had  taken  the  gentleman 
in,  and  he  remained  under  his  charge  until  a  week  before 
he  came  up  to  town. 

"  For  the  first  month  he  had  been  dangerously  ill,  but 
he  completely  recovered.  The  surgeon  had  no  reason 
whatever  for  doubting  his  patient  being  a  gentleman; 
he  was  fashionably  dressed,  and  had  evidently  changed 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  99 

his  clothes  after  the  duel,  as  there  were  no  bloodstains 
upon  them.  He  was,  however,  glad  when  he  left,  as  his 
conversation  did  not  please  him  from  its  cynical  tone.  The 
Bank  sent  to  us  directly  the  man  presented  the  note, 
which  he  stated  had  been  given  to  him  in  part  payment 
for  his  medical  services  and  the  board  and  lodging  of 
the  patient;  the  total  amount  had  been  £75,  and  the 
balance  was  paid  in  gold.  As  he  was  able  to  give  several 
good  references,  and  was  identified  by  three  gentlemen, 
he  was,  of  course,  released.  I  have  no  doubt  whatever 
that  the  fellow  he  attended  was  your  man.  The  surgeon 
said,  whoever  he  was,  he  must  have  been  a  man  of  iron 
resolution  to  have  made  such  a  journey  in  the  state 
he  was. 

"  No  doubt  he  must  have  ridden  straight  to  the  place 
he  used  as  his  headquarters,  where  he  had  his  wound 
roughly  bandaged,  changed  his  clothes,  and  had  ridden 
in  the  morning  to  some  point  that  the  coach  passed  on 
its  way  to  Southampton.  Of  course  we  obtained  a  minute 
description  from  the  surgeon  of  the  man's  appearance. 
We  found  that  the  people  at  the  coach-office  had  no  re- 
membrance of  there  being  anyone  answering  to  that  de- 
scription among  the  persons  who  traveled  by  the  coach, 
but  of  course  that  would  not  go  for  much,  for  over  three 
months  have  elapsed. 

"  When  the  coachman  who  had  driven  the  down  coach 
that  day  came  up  to  -town,  we  saw  him,  and  he  remem- 
bered perfectly  that  on  or  about  that  day  he  had  picked 
up  a  passenger  at  Kingston — a  gentleman  who  was  in 
very  weak  health.  There  were  only  three  inside  pas- 
sengers besides  himself,  and  he  had  to  be  assisted  into 
the  coach.  The  way-bill,  on  being  turned  up,  showed 
that  an  inside  passenger  had  been  taken  up  at  Kingston. 
I  have  already  sent  down  men  to  make  inquiries  at  every 
village  in  the  district  between  Reigate  and  Kingston,  and 
I  trust  that  we  shall  lay  hands  on  him,  especially  now  we 
have  got  an  accurate  description  of  him,  while  before  we 
were  working  in  the  dark  in  that  respect." 

"  What  is  the  description,  sir?  My  father  is  much  in- 
terested on  that  point,  for,  as  I  believe  I  told  you,  he 
has  a  strong  suspicion  that  the  fellow  is  the  man  who 


100  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

was  transported  more  than  eight  years  ago  to  Australia, 
and  who  made  his  escape  from  the  prison  there." 

"  Yes,  I  know.  At  first  it  appeared  to  me  very  im- 
probable, but  I  am  bound  to  say  the  description  tallies 
very  closely  with  that  given  of  him.  The  surgeon  took 
him  to  be  nearly  thirty;  but  after  what  he  has  gone 
through  he  may  well  look  three  or  four  years  older  than 
he  is.  He  had  light  hair,  rather  small  gray  eyes,  and  a 
face  that  would  have  been  good-looking  had  it  not  been 
for  its  supercilious  and  sneeriug  expression." 

"  I  can  remember  him,"  Mark  said;  "  and  that  answers 
very  closely  to  him.  I  should  say  that  it  is  certainly 
Bastow,  and  my  father  made  no  mistake  when  he  asserted 
that  he  recognized  his  voice." 

The  officer  added  a  note  to  the  description  in  his 
register:  "  Strongly  suspected  of  being  Arthur  Bastow, 
transported  for  connivance  with  highwaymen;  was  leader 
of  a  mutiny  in  convict  jail  of  Sydney  two  years  and  a 
half  ago.     Made  his  escape." 

"  There  is  no  doubt,"  he  went  on,  "  that  he  is  a  des- 
perate character.  No  doubt  he  is  the  man  who  has  been 
concerned  in  most  of  these  robberies  in  the  southern 
suburbs.  "We  must  get  hold  of  him  if  we  can,  and  once 
we  do  so  there  will  be  an  end  of  his  travels,  for  the 
mutiny  in  prison  and  escape  is  a  hanging  business,  putting 
aside  the  affairs  since  he  got  back.  Well,  sir,  I  hope  he 
Will  give  you  and  your  father  no  more  trouble." 

"  I  am  sure  I  hope  so,"  Mark  said.  "  I  suppose  that 
the  fellow  who  was  shot  was  one  of  the  men  who  escaped 
with  him  from  the  convict  prison." 

"  That  is  likely  enough.  Two  would  get  home  as  easily 
as  one,  and  th°  fact  that  they  were  both'  strangers  here 
would  account  ^or  the  difficulty  our  men  have  had  in 
their  search  for  him.  You  see,  we  have  had  nothing 
whatever  to  go  on.  You  must  not  be  too  sanguine  about 
our  catching  the  man  in  a  short  time:  he  is  evidently  a 
clever  fellow,  and  I  think  it  likely  that  once  he  got  back 
he  lost  no  time  in  getting  away  from  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  we  are  more  likely  to  find  him  in  the  west 
or  north  than  we  are  of  laying  hands  on  him  here.  We 
will  send  descriptions  all  over  the  country,  and  as  soon 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  10l 

as  I  hear  of  a  series  of  crimes  anywhere,  I  will  send  off 
two  of  my  best  men  to  help  the  local  constables." 

On  his  return  home  Mark  told  his  father  what  he  had 
done. 

"  I  thought  that  I  could  not  have  been  mistaken,  Mark; 
we  have  got  that  rascal  on  our  hands  again.  I  hope  now 
that  they  have  got  a  description  of  him  to  go  by,  they 
will  not  be  long  before  they  catch  him;  but  the  way  he 
escaped  after  being  badly  wounded  shows  that  he  is  full 
of  resources,  and  he  may  give  them  some  trouble  yet,  if  I 
am  not  mistaken.  At  any  rate,  I  will  have  a  talk  with  the 
Reigate  constable,  and  tell  him  that  there  is  very  little 
doubt  that  the  man  who  attacked  us  was  Arthur  Bastow, 
who  has,  as  we  have  heard,  escaped  from  Botany  Bay, 
and  that  he  had  best  tell  his  men  to  keep  a  sharp  look- 
out for  him,  for  that,  owing  to  his  animosity  against  us 
for  his  former  capture  and  conviction,  it  is  likely  enough 
that  sooner  or  later  he  will  be  in  this  neighborhood  again. 
After  his  determined  attempt  at  my  life  when  pretending 
to  rob  us,  I  shall  certainly  not  feel  comfortable  until  I 
know  that  he  is  under  lock  and  key." 

"  I  wish,  Guardy,  you  would  give  up  this  magistrate's 
business,"  Millicent  said  at  dinner.  a  I  am  sure  that  it 
is  worrying  you,  and  I  can't  see  why  you  should  go  on 
with  it." 

"  It  does  not  worry  me,  as  a  rule,  Millicent;  indeed, 
I  like  the  duty.  Besides,  every  landowner  of  standing 
ought  to  take  his  share  in  public  work.  There  are  only 
two  of  the  magistrates  younger  than  I  am,  and  whatever 
you  may  think  of  me,  I  feel  myself  capable  of  doing  what 
work  there  is  to  do.  When  Mark  gets  a  few  years  older 
I  shall  resign,  and  let  him  take  my  place  on  the  bench. 
I  own,  though,  that  I  should  be  glad  if  these  highway 
robberies  could  be  suppressed.  Poaching  and  the  ordi- 
nary offenses  of  drunkenness  and  assaults  are  disposed  of 
without  any  trouble;  but  this  stopping  of  the  coaches, 
accompanied  occasionally  by  the  shooting  of  the  coach- 
man or  guard,  gives  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  the  worst 
of  it  is  that  we  are  practically  powerless  to  put  sucb 
crimes  down.  ^Nothing  short  of  patrolling  the  roads  in 
parties  of  three  or  f oiu  between  sunset  and  sunrise  would 


102  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

put  a  stop  to  them,  and  the  funds  at  our  disposal  would 
not  support  such  an  expenditure." 

"  It  is  a  pity  that  you  cannot  get  up  a  corps  like  the 
yeomanry,  and  call  it  the  Mounted  Constabulary,"  said 
Mark.  "  There  are  at  least  a  dozen  fellows  I  know  who 
would,  like  myself,  be  glad  to  join  it,  and  I  dare  say  we 
could  get  a  score  of  young  farmers  or  farmers'  sons." 

"  It  is  not  a  bad  idea,  Mark,  and  I  dare  say  that  for 
a  time  the  duty  would  be  zealously  performed,  but  before 
very  long  you  would  tire  of  it.  A  few  wet  nights  or 
winter's  cold,  and  you  would  cease  to  see  the  fun  of  it, 
especially  as  you  may  be  sure  that  the  news  that  the  roads 
are  well  patrolled  would  soon  come  to  the  ears  of  these 
scoundrels,  and  they  would  cease  to  work  in  the  district." 

"  Perhaps  you  are  right,  sir;  but  I  think  that  a  few  of 
us  would  stick  to  it." 

"  Perhaps  so,  Mark,  but  I  should  be  sorry  to  wager  that 
the  work  would  be  thoroughly  done.  The  first  county  or 
hunt  ball,  or  even  dinner-party,  more  than  half  of  them 
would  be  away.  I  don't  say  that  you  personally  might  not 
for  some  considerable  time  persist  in  patrolling  the  roads, 
for  you  have  a  sort  of  personal  interest  in  the  matter; 
but  I  would  wager  that  before  two  months  have  passed 
you  would  find  you  were  the  only  one  who  attended  at  the 
rendezvous  regularly." 

A  fortnight  later  the  party  were  seated  round  the  fire 
in  the  dusk.  Mr.  Bastow  was  sitting  next  to  the  Squire, 
and  was  in  unusually  good  spirits.  He  had  heard  no 
word  of  what  the  Squire  had  discovered,  nor  dreamed 
that  his  son  was  again  in  England,  still  less1  that  he  was 
suspected  of  being  one  of  the  men  who  had  endeavored 
to  stop  the  Squire  and  his  son  on  their  drive  from 
London.  Suddenly  there  was  the  crack  of  a  pistol  out- 
side, and  a  ball  passed  between  him  and  the  Squire. 
Without  a  word,  Mark  Thorndyke  rushed  to  the  door, 
seized  a  pistol  from  his  riding-coat,  and,  snatching  up  a 
heavy  whip,  dashed  out  into  the  garden. 

He  was  just  in  time  to  see  a  figure  running  at  full 
speed,  and  he  set  off  in  pursuit.  Good  runner  as  he  was, 
he  gained  but  slightly  at  first,  but  after  a  time  he  drew 
nearer  to  the  fugitive.     The  latter  was  but  some  sixty 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  103 

yards  away  when  he  leaped  a  hedge  into  a  narrow  _ane. 
Mark  followed  without  hesitation,  but  as  he  leaped  into 
the  road  he  heard  a  jeering  laugh  and  the  sharp  sound 
of  a  horse's  hoofs,  and  knew  that  the  man  he  was  pur- 
suing had  gained  his  horse  and  made  off.  Disgusted  at 
his  failure,  he  went  slowly  back  to  the  house.  The  shut- 
ters had  been  put  up. 

"  I  have  lost  him,  father.  He  ran  well  to  begin  with, 
but  I  was  gaining  fast  on  him  when  he  leaped  into  a  nar- 
row lane  where  he  had  left  his  horse,  and  rode  off  before 
I  could  get  up  to  him.  I  need  hardly  say  that  there  was 
no  use  attempting  to  follow  on  foot.  He  missed  you  all, 
did  he  not?" 

"  Yes,  Mark.  It  is  not  so  easy  to  take  an  accurate 
aim  when  it  is  nearly  dark.  The  bullet  passed  between 
myself  and  Mr.  Bastow,  and  has  buried  itself  in  the 
mantelpiece." 

"  Something  ought  to  be  done,  Guardy,"  Millicent  Con- 
yers  said  indignantly.  "  It  is  shameful  that  people  cannot 
sit  in  their  own  room  without  the  risk  of  being  shot  at. 
What  can  it  mean?  Surely  no  one  can  have  any  enmity 
against  you." 

"  I  hope  not,  my  dear,"  John  Thorndyke  said  lightly. 
"  Some  of  the  fellows  we  have  sentenced  may  think  that 
we  were  rather  hard  on  them,  but  I  do  not  think  that 
any  of  them  would  feel  it  sufficiently  to  attempt  to  mur- 
der one;  besides,  Mark  says  that  the  fellow  had  a  horse 
waiting  for  him,  and  none  of  our  poachers  would  be 
likely  to  be  the  owner  of  a  horse.  It  may  be  that  the 
highwayman  Mark  shot  at  and  wounded  has  come  down 
to  give  us  a  fright.  It  is  no  use  worrying  about  it  now; 
in  future  we  will  have  the  shutters  closed  at  sunset.  It  is 
hardly  likely  that  the  thing  will  be  attempted  again,  and 
Mark's  chase  must  have  shown  the  fellow  that  the  game 
is  hardly  worth  the  risk." 

"  He  might  have  shot  you,  Mark;  you  had  no  right  to 
risk  your  life  in  that  sort  of  way,"  the  girl  said  to  him 
later,  as  they  were  seated  together  in  front  of  the  fire, 
while  the  Squire  was  reading  the  Gazette  at  the  table, 
Mrs.  Cunningham  wars  working,  and  Mr.  Bastow,  who 
had  been  greatly  shaken  by  the  event,  had  retired  to 


104  COLONEL   THORNBYKE'S  SECRET. 

"bed.  "  Do  you  think  that  he  really  meant  to  kill  your 
father?  " 

"  I  should  imagine  he  did;  a  man  would  hardly  run  the 
risk  of  being  hung  merely  for  the  pleasure  of  shooting. 
I  would  give  a  good  deal  if  I  had  caught  him,  or  better 
still,  if  I  had  shot  him,"  said  Mark.  "  However,  I  will 
make  it  my  business  to  hunt  the  fellow  down.  After 
this  evening's  affair,  we  shall  never  feel  comfortable  until 
he  is  caught.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  is  the  fellow  we 
have  been  hunting  for  the  last  four  months.  The  people 
at  Bow  Street  seem  no  good  whatever;  I  will  try  if  I 
cannot  succeed  better." 

"  Don't  do  anything  rash,  Mark,"  said  Millicent,  in  a 
low  voice;  "you  have  no  right  to  put  yourself  in 
danger." 

"  But  our  lives  are  in  danger  now,  Millicent — in  much, 
greater  danger  than  mine  would  be  when  looking  out 
for  him.  But  there  seems  no  guarding  against  attacks 
like  this;  I  mean  to  hunt  him  down,  if  it  takes  me  a 
year.  I  have  nothing  special  to  do,  and  cannot  employ 
my  time  more  usefully." 

When  the  ladies  went  up  to  bed  the  Squire  said: 

"  Come  into  the  library,  Mark,  and  we  will  smoke  a 
pipe,  and  have  a  talk  over  this  business."  He  touched 
the  bell.  "  Have  you  got  a  good  fire  in  the  library, 
Eamoo?  " 

"  Yes,  sahib,  very  good." 

"  Then  take  a  bottle  of  number  one  bin  of  port  there 
and  a  couple  of  glasses." 

When  they  were  quietly  seated,  glasses  filled,  and  the 
long  pipes  alight,  the  Squire  said:  "I  want  to  have  a 
serious  talk  with  you,  Mark.  What  I  am  going  to  say 
will  surprise  you  a  good  deal.  I  had  not  intended  to  tell 
you  for  another  four  years — that  is  to  say,  not  until  Milli- 
cent came  of  age — but  after  that  affair  to-night,  I  feel  that 
my  life  is  so  uncertain  that  I  ought  not  to  delay  letting 
you  know  the  truth.  I  suppose  you  agree  with  me  that  it 
was  Bastow  who  shot  at  me  this  evening?  " 

"  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  about  that,  father." 

"  I  will  not  say  that  he  shot  at  me,"  the  Squire  said, 
"  for  he  may  have  shot  at  his  father;  the  villain  is  quite 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  105 

capable  of  that.  It  was  his  father  who  brought  me  upon 
him,  and  though  I  effected  his  capture  eight  years  ago 
I  don't  suppose  he  cared  which  of  us  he  killed.  However, 
the  point  is  not  what  he  aimed  at,  but  whether  it  was  he, 
and  that  I  take  there  is  no  doubt  about.  He  missed  me 
this  time,  but  his  next  shot  may  be  more  successful. 
At  any  rate,  I  think  that  it  is  high  time  that  I  told  you 
the  story." 

And,  beginning  with  the  arrival  of  Colonel  Thorndyke 
at  his  place,  he  repeated  the  conversation  that  he  had 
had  with  him.  Several  times  in  the  early  portion  of  his 
narrative  he  was  interrupted  by  exclamations  of  surprise 
from  his  son. 

"Then  Millicent  is  really  my  uncle's  heiress!"  ex- 
claimed Mark,  when  he  heard  the  request  the  Colonel 
had  made  of  the  Squire. 

"  That  is  so,  Mark.  She  does  not  know  it  herself,  and 
it  was  my  brother's  urgent  wish  that  she  should  not  know 
it  until  she  came  of  age  or  until  she  married.  I  fought 
against  it  to  the  utmost,  but  it  was  his  dying  prayer,  and 
I  could  not  refuse  it.  My  solicitor  knows  the  facts  of 
the  matter,  and  so  does  Mrs.  Cunningham,  who  brought 
Millicent  over  from  India  when  she  was  only  about  a  year 
old.  I  may  say  that  I  especially  urged  that  it  would  not 
be  fair  to  you  to  be  brought  up  to  consider  yourself  to 
be  heir  to  the  property,  but  he  said: 

" '  Putting  aside  the  estate,  I  have  a  considerable  for- 
tune. In  the  first  place,  there  are  the  accumulations  of 
rent  from  the  Eeigate  place.  I  have  never  touched  them, 
and  they  have  been  going  on  for  twelve  years.  In  the 
next  place,  the  shaking  of  the  pagoda  tree  has  gone  on 
merrily,  and  we  all  made  a  comfortable  pile.  Then  I 
always  made  a  point  of  carrying  about  with  me  two  or 
three  hundred  pounds,  and  after  the  sacking  of  some  of 
the  palaces  I  could  pick  up  jewels  and  things  from  the 
troops  for  a  trifle,  being  able  to  pay  money  down.  p]ven 
without  the  rents  here,  I  have  some  £50,000  in  money. 
I  should  think  the  jewels  would  be  worth  at  least  as  much 
more,  irrespective  of  a  diamond  bracelet  which  is,  I  fancy, 
worth  more  than  the  rest  put  together.  It  was  stolen 
from  the  arm  of  some  idol.'    He  then  explained  how  he 


106  COLONEL  THOBNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

got  it,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  had  placed  it  and  the 
rest  of  his  wealth  in  a  secure  position. 

" '  Things  stolen  from  a  god  are  frightfully  dangerous,' 
he  said,  '  for  the  Brahmins  or  priests  connected  with  the 
temples  have  been  known  to  follow  them  up  for  years, 
and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  they  get  possession  of  them 
again.  Murder  in  such  a  case  is  meritorious,  and  I  would 
not  have  them  in  the  house  here,  were  they  ten  times  the 
value  they  are.  I  know  that  my  clothes,  my  drawers,  and 
everything  belonging  to  me  have  been  gone  through  at 
night  a  score  of  times.  Nothing  has  been  stolen,  but, 
being  a  methodical  man,  I  could  generally  see  some  dis- 
placement in  the  things  that  told  me  they  had  been 
disturbed.  They  gave  it  up  for  a  time,  but  I  haven't  a 
shadow  of  a  doubt  that  they  have  been  watching  me  ever 
since,  and  they  may  be  watching  me  now,  for  anything  I 
know.  Now,  half  of  that  fortune  I  have  left  by  my  will 
to  your  son;  half  to  the  girl.  I  will  tell  you  where  the 
things  are  the  last  thing  before  I  die. 

"  '  Now,  mind,  you  must  be  careful  when  you  get  them. 
When  I  am  dead  you  are  almost  certain  to  be  watched. 
You  don't  know  what  these  fellows  are.  The  things  must 
remain  where  they  are  until  your  boy  comes  of  age.  Don't 
let  him  keep  those  diamonds  an  hour  in  his  possession; 
let  him  pass  them  away  privately  to  some  man  in  whom 
he  has  implicit  confidence,  for  him  to  take  them  to  a 
jeweler's;  let  him  double  and  turn  and  disguise  himself 
so  as  to  throw  everyone  that  may  be  spying  on  him  off 
his  track.  If  you  can  manage  it,  the  best  way  would  be 
to  carry  them  over  to  Amsterdam,  and  sell  them  there.' 

"  I  confess  it  seemed  absurd,  but  it  is  a  matter  about 
which  he  would  know  a  great  deal  more  than  I  do,  and 
he  was  convinced  that  not  only  was  he  watched,  but  that 
he  owed  his  life  simply  to  the  fact  that  the  fellows  did 
not  know  where  the  diamonds  were  hidden,  and  that  by 
killing  him  they  would  have  lost  every  chance  of  regain- 
ing them. 

"  So  convinced  was  he  of  all  this,  that  he  would  not 
tell  me  where  he  had  stowed  them  away;  he  seemed  to 
think  that  the  very  walls  would  hear  us,  and  that  these 
fellows  might  be  hidden  under  the  sofa,  in  a  cupboard,  or 


COLONEL  TRORNDYKE'S  8E0RET.  107 

up  the  chimney,  for  aught  I  know.  He  told  me  that  he 
would  tell  me  the  secret  before  he  died;  but  death  came 
so  suddenly  that  he  never  had  an  opportunity  of  doing 
so.  He  made  a  tremendous  effort  in  his  last  moment,  but 
failed,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  anguish  his  face  ex- 
pressed when  he  found  himself  powerless  to  speak;  how- 
ever, he  pressed  his  snuffbox  into  my  hand  with  such  a 
significant  look  that,  being  certain  it  contained  some  clew 
to  the  mystery,  and  being  unable  to  find  a  hidden  spring 
or  a  receptacle,  I  broke  it  open  that  night. 

"  It  contained  a  false  bottom,  and  here  are  what  I 
found  in  it.  I  stowed  them  away  in  a  secret  drawer  in 
that  old  cabinet  that  stands  by  my  bedside.  It  is  in  the 
bottom  pigeonhole  on  the  right-hand  side.  I  bought  the 
cabinet  at  a  sale,  and  found  the  spring  of  the  secret 
drawer  quite  accidentally.  I  shall  put  the  things  back 
to-night,  and  you  will  know  where  to  look  for  them.  You 
press  against  the  bottom  and  up  against  the  top  simulta- 
neously, and  the  back  then  falls  forward.  The  opening 
behind  is  very  shallow,  and  will  hold  but  two  or  three 
letters.  But,  however,  it  sufficed  for  this;  "  and  he  handed 
Mark  the  coin  and  slip  of  paper. 

"  But  what  are  these,  father?  " 

"  These  are  the  clews  by  which  we  are  to  obtain  the 
treasure." 

As  Mark  examined  them  carefully  the  Squire  stood  up 
with  his  back  to  the  fire,  and  looking  round  walked  to  the 
door  and  said: 

"  I  thought  there  was  a  draught  somewhere;  either 
Ramoo  did  not  shut  the  door  when  he  went  out  or  it  has 
come  open  again.  It  has  done  that  once  or  twice  before. 
When  I  go  into  town  to-morrow  I  will  tell  Tucker  to 
send  a  man  up  to  take  the  lock  off.  Well,  what  do  you 
make  out  of  that?" 

"  I  can  make  out  nothing,"  Mark  replied.  "  No  doubt 
the  coin  is  something  to  be  given  to  whoever  is  in  charge 
of  the  treasure,  and  Masulipatam  may  be  the  place  where 
it  is  hidden." 

"  Yes,  or  it  may  be  a  password.  It  reminds  cue  of 
the  forty  thieves  business.  You  go  and  knock  at  the 
door  of  a  cave,  a  figure  armed  to  the  teeth  presents  itself, 


108  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET 

you  whisper  in  his  ear  •  Masulipatam,'  he  replies  '  Madras/ 
or  '  Calcutta,'  or  something  of  that  sort,  you  take  out 
the  coin  and  show  it  to  him,  he  takes  out  from  some 
hidden  repository  a  similar  one,  compares  the  two,  and 
then  leads  you  to  an  inner  cave  piled  up  with  jewels." 

Mark  laughed. 

"  Well,  it  is  no  laughing  matter,  Mark,"  the  Squire 
went  on  seriously.  "  The  little  comedy  may  not  be 
played  just  as  I  have  sketched  it,  but  I  expect  that  it  is 
something  of  the  kind.  That  coin  has  to  be  shown,  and 
the  word  '  Masulipatam '  spoken  to  the  guardian,  whoever 
he  may  be,  of  your  uncle's  treasure.  But  who  that  guard- 
ian may  be  or  how  he  is  to  be1  found  is  a  mystery.  I 
myself  have  never  tried  to  solve  it.  There  was  nothing 
whatever  to  go  upon.  The  things  may  be  in  England 
or,  it  may  be,  anywhere  in  India.  To  me  it  looked  an 
absolutely  hopeless  business  to  set  about.  I  did  not  see 
how  even  a  first  step  was  to  be  taken,  and  as  I  had  this 
estate  and  you  and  Millicent  to  look  after,  and  was  no 
longer  a  young  man,  I  put  the  matter  aside  altogether. 
You  are  young,  you  have  plenty  of  energy,  and  you  have 
your  life  before  you,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest 
interest  to  you. 

"  Possibly — very  improbably,  mind,  still  possibly — when 
Millicent  comes  of  age  and  learns  who  she  is,  Mrs.  Cun- 
ningham may  be  able  to  help  you.  I  have  no  idea 
whether  it  is  so.  I  have  never  spoken  to  her  about  this 
treasure  of  George's,  but  it  is  just  possible  that  while  he 
was  in  town  before  he  came  down  to  me  he  may  have 
given  her  some  instructions  concerning  it.  Of  course  he 
intended  to  give  me  full  particulars,  but  he  could  hardly 
have  avoided  seeing  that,  in  the  event  of  my  death,  per- 
haps suddenly  before  the  time  came  for  seeking  the 
treasure,  the  secret  would  be  lost  altogether.  Whether 
he  has  told  her  or  his  lawyer  or  not  I  cannot  saj>  but  I 
have  all  along  clung  to  the  hope  that  he  took  some  such 
natural  precaution.  Unless  that  treasure  is  discovered, 
the  only  thing  that  will  come  to  you  is  the  half  of  the 
accumulated  rents  of  this  estate  during  the  ten  years  be- 
tween my  father's  death  and  George's;  these  rents  were 
paid  to  our  solicitors,  and  by  them  invested. 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  109 

"  The  rentals  amount  to  about  £2500  a  year,  and  of 
course  there  is  interest  to  be  added,  so  that  I  suppose 
there  is  now  some  £25,000,  for  I  had  out  £2000  when 
I  came  here,  to  set  matters  straight.  I  had  a  great  fight 
with  the  lawyers  over  it,  but  as  I  pointed  out-  they  had 
failed  altogether  to  see  that  the  agent  did  his  duty,  and 
that  at  least  a  couple  of  hundred  a  year  ought  to  be 
expended  in  necessary  repairs,  I  had  a  right  to  at  least 
that  sum  to  carry  out  the  work  that  ought  to  be  done 
from  year  to  year.  In  addition  to  that  sum  I  laid  out 
about  £1000  a  year  for  the  first  three  years  I  was  here; 
so  that  practically  £5000  was  expended  in  rebuilding  the 
village  and  doing  repairs  on  the  homesteads;  that,  how- 
ever, is  not  the  point  now.  Altogether,  then,  there  is  some 
£25,000  to  be  divided  between  you  and  Millicent  when  she 
becomes  mistress  of  this  property. 

"  According  to  the  terms  of  my  brother's  will,  I  am  still 
to  remain  here  until  she  marries;  when  she  does  so  I  shall, 
of  course,  go  back  to  my  own  little  place;  the  income  of 
that  has  been  accumulating  while  I  have  been  here,  my 
only  expenses  having  been  for  clothes.  I  have  taken 
nothing  out  of  this  estate  since  I  came  here,  and  each  year 
have  paid  to  the  solicitors  all  balances  remaining  after 
discharging  the  household  expenses,  these  balances 
averaging  £700  or  £800  a  year.  Of  course  •  the  income 
was  absolutely  left  to  me  during  the  time  I  remained  os- 
tensible owner,  but  I  had  no  wish  to  make  money  out  of  a 
trust  that  I  assumed  greatly  against  my  will.  That  money 
is  Millicent's;  of  course  the  house  had  to  be  kept  up  in 
proper  style  whether  I  were  here  or  not.  Had  she  at  once 
come  into  possession,  there  must  have  been  horses,  and 
carriages,  and  so  on.  I  don't  say  that  I  have  not  had  all 
the  expenses  of  our  living  saved;  that  I  had  no  objection 
to;  but  I  was  determined  at  least  not  to  take  a  penny  out 
of  the  estate  beyond  those  expenses.  You  see,  Mark,  you 
will  have  your  £12,500  anyhow,  as  soon  as  Millicent  comes 
of  age — not  a  bad  little  sum — so  that  even  if  you  never 
hear  anything  more  of  this  mysterious  treasure  you  will 
not  be  penniless,  or  in  anyway  dependent  upon  me.  At 
my  death,  of  course,  you  will  come  into  the  Sussex  place, 
with  what  savings  there  may  be." 


110  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"  I  am  sure  I  have  no  reason  to  grumble,  father/'  Mark 
said  heartily.  "  Of  course  it  came  upon  me  at  first  as 
a  surprise  that  Millicent  was  the  heiress  here,  and  it 
flashed  through  my  mind  for  the  moment  that  the  best 
thing  would  be  to  take  a  commission  in  the  army,  or  to 
follow  my  uncle's  example,  and  get  a  cadetship  in  the 
Company's  service.  I  have  no  doubt  that  I  should  have 
enjoyed  life  either  way  quite  as  much  or  possibly  more 
than  if  I  had  gone  on  a  good  many  years  as  heir  to 
these  estates,  and  afterwards  as  Squire.  Of  course,  now 
I  shall  make  it  my  business  to  see  if  it  is  possible  to 
obtain  some  sort  of  clew  to  this  treasure,  and  then  follow 
it  up;  but  the  first  thing  to  which  I  shall  give  my  mind 
will  be  to  hunt  down  Bastow.  We  shall  never  feel  safe 
here  as  long  as  that  fellow  is  alive,  and  that  will  be  the 
first  thing  I  shall  devote  myself  to.  After  that  I  shall 
see  about  the  treasure." 

"  As  to  that,  Mark,  I  cannot  impress  upon  you  too 
strongly  what  your  uncle  said.  It  may,  of  course,  be  a 
pure  delusion  on  his  part;  but  if  he  is  right,  and  some 
of  these  Hindoo  fellows  are  still  on  the  watch  to  obtain 
that  bracelet,  you  must  use  extraordinary  precautions 
when  you  get  it  into  your  hands;  he  advised  me  to  take 
it  across  to  Amsterdam,  and  either  get  the  stones  recut 
or  to  sell  them  separately  to  different  diamond  merchants 
there.  He  said  that  my  life  would  not  be  worth  an  hour's 
purchase  as  long  as  the  stones  were  in  my  hands." 

"  That  rather  looks,  father,  as  if  the  things  were  some- 
where in  England;  had  they  been  in  India,  you  would  have 
had  them  some  months  in  your  hands  before  you  could 
get  them  to  Amsterdam." 

"  I  did  not  think  of  that  before,  Mark,  and  it  is  possible 
that  you  are  right;  but  I  don't  know;  he  might  have 
thought  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  dispose 
of  them  at  Madras  or  Calcutta,  and  may  have  assumed 
that  I  should  at  once  deposit  them  in  a  bank  to  be 
forwarded  with  other  treasure  to  England,  or  that  I 
should  get  them  packed  away  in  the  treasure  safe  in  the 
ship  I  came  back  by,  and  that  I  should  not  really  have 
them  on  my  person  till  I  landed  in  England,  or  until  I 
took  them  from  the  Bank.     Still,  I  see  that  your  suppo* 


COLONEL   THQRNDYKE'S  SECRET.  Ill 

sition  is  the  most  likely,  and  that  they  may  all  this  time 
have  been  lying  somewhere  in  London  until  I  should 
present  myself  with  a  gold  coin  and  the  word  '  Masuli- 
patam.' " 

Suddenly  Mark  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  pulled  back 
the  curtains  across  a  window,  threw  it  up,  and  leaped 
into  the  garden,  and  there  stood  listening  for  two  or  three 
minutes,  with  his  pistol  cocked  in  his  hand.  He  stepped 
for  a  moment  into  the  room  again. 

"  You  had  better  put  that  light  out,  father,  or  we  may 
have  another  shot.'"' 

"Did  you  hear  anything,  Mark?" 

"  I  thought  I  did,  father.  I  may  have  been  mistaken, 
but  I  certainly  thought  I  heard  a  noise,  and  when  I  pulled 
the  curtains  aside  the  window  was  not  shut  by  three  or 
four  inches.  I  will  have  a  look  through  the  shrubbery. 
That  fellow  may  have  come  back  again.  Pull  the  curtains 
to  after  me." 

"  I  will  go  with  you,  Mark."    • 

"  I  would  rather  you  didn't,  father;  it  would  only  make 
me  nervous.  I  shan't  go  into  the  shrubbery  and  give 
them  a  chance  of  getting  first  shot.  I  shall  hide  up  some- 
where and  listen.  It  is  a  still  night,  and  if  there  is  anyone 
moving  I  am  pretty  sure  to  hear  him." 

The  Squire  turned  down  the  lamp,  drew  the  curtains, 
and  seated  himself  by  the  fire.  It  was  three-quarters  of 
an  hour  before  Mark  returned.  He  shut  the  window,  and 
fastened  it  carefully. 

"  I  fancy  you  must  have  been  mistaken,  Mark." 

"  I  suppose  that  shot  through  the  window  has  made 
me  nervous.  I  certainly  did  fancy  I  heard  a  noise  there; 
it  may  have  been  a  dead  bough  snapping,  or  something 
of  that  sort;  and  of  course,  the  window  being  partly  open, 
even  though  only  three  or  four  inches,  any  little  noise 
would  come  in  more  plainly  than  it  otherwise  would 
do.  However,  everything  has  been  perfectly  quiet  since 
I  went  out,  and  it  is  hardly  likely  indeed  that  the  fel- 
low would  have  returned  so  soon  after  the  hot  chase  I 
gave  him." 

"  It  is  very  stupid — the  window  being  left  open,"  the 
Squire  said.     "  I  shall  question  Martha  about  it  in  the 


X 


112  COLONEL   TEORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

morning;  it  was  her  duty  to  see  that  it  was  shut  and 
fastened  before  drawing  the  curtains.  Just  at  present 
one  can  scarcely  be  tco  careful.  I  don't  mean  to  deny 
that  whether  there  was  a  window  open  or  not  a  burglar 
who  wanted  to  get  into  the  house  could  do  so,  still  there 
is  no  use  in  making  their  work  more  easy  for  them.  I 
know,  as  a  rule,  we  are  careless  about  such  things;  there 
has  not  been  a  burglary  in  this  part  for  years,  and.  until 
lately  the  front  door  has  never  been  locked  at  night,  and 
anyone  could,  have  walked  in  who  wanted  to.  Of  course 
the  servants  don't  know  that  there  is  any  reason  for  being 
more  careful  at  present  than  usual. 

"  I  was  thinking  the  other  day  of  having  shutters  put 
to  all  these  downstair  rooms.  Some  of  them  have  got 
them,  and  some  have  not;  still,  even  with  shutters,  bur- 
glars can  always  get  in  if  they  want  to  do  so.  They  have 
only  to  cut  round  the  lock  of  a  door  or  to  make  a  hole 
in  a  panel  to  give  them  room  to  put  an  arm  through  and 
draw  back  a  bolt,  and  the  thing  is  done.  I  know  that 
all  the  silver  is  locked  up  every  night  in  the  safe,  for 
Eamoo  sees  to  that,  and  I  have  never  known  him  neg- 
lect anything  under  his  charge.  Well,  Mark,  I  don't  know 
that  it  is  any  use  sitting  up  longer,  we  have  plenty  of 
time  to  talk  the  matter  over;  it  is  four  years  yet  before 
Millicent  comes  of  age,  though,  of  course,  there  is  nothing 
to  prevent  your  setting  out  in  quest  ef  the  treasure  as 
soon  as  you  like.    Still,  there  is  no  hurry  about  it." 

"None  whatever,  father;  but  I  don't  mean  to  lose  a: 
day  before  I  try  to  get  on  the  track  of  that  villain. 
Bastow." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Mark  was  some  hours  before  he  went  to  sleep.  The 
news  that  he  had  heard  that  evening  was  strange  and 
startling.  Full  of  health  and  strength,  the  fact  that  he 
was  not,  as  he  had  always  supposed,  the  heir  to  the  estate 
troubled  him  not  at  all.  The  fact  that  in  four  years  he 
would  come  in  for  some  twelve  thousand  pounds  was 
sufficient  to  prevent  his  feeling  any  uneasiness  as  to  his 
future;  and  indeed  in  some  respects  it  was  not  an  unpleas- 
ant idea  that,  instead  of  being  tied  down  to  the  estate, 
he  should  be  able  to  wander  at  will,  visit  foreign  countries, 
and  make  his  own  life. 

In  one  respect  he  was  sorry.  His  father  had  in  the 
last  year  hinted  more  than  once  that  it  would  be  a  very 
nice  arrangement  if  he  were  to  make  up  a  match  with  his. 
ward; 'he  had  laugbed,  and  said  that  there  would  be 
plenty  of  time  for  that  yet.  But  the  idea  had  been  an 
agreeable  one.  Ho  was  very  fond  of  Millicent — fondv 
perhaps,  in  a  cousinly  way  at  present;  but  at  any  rate  ho 
liked  her  far  better  than  any  of  the  sisters  of  his  friends. 
Of  course  she  was  only  seventeen  yet,  and  there  was 
plenty  of  time  to  think  of  marriage  in  another  three 
years.  Still,  the  thought  occurred  to  him  several  times 
that  she  was  budding  out  into  a  young  woman,  and  every 
month  added  to  her  attractions.  It  Avas  but  the  day  be- 
fore he  had  said  to  himself  that  there  was  no  reason  to 
wait  as  long  as  three  years,  especially  as  his  father  seemed 
anxious,  and  would  evidently  be  glad  were  the  match  to 
take  place.  Now,  of  course,  he  said  to  himself,  that  was 
at  an  end. 

He  had  never  given  her  any  reason  to  suppose  that  he 
cared  for  her,  and  now  that  she  was  the  heiress  and  he 
comparatively  poor,  she  would  naturally  think  that  it 
was  for  the  estate,  and  not  for  herself,  that  she  was  wooed. 

118 


114  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

Then  there  was  the  question  of  this  curiously  lost  treas- 
ure, with  the  mysterious  clew  that  led  to  nothing.  How 
on  earth  was  he  to  set  about  the  quest?  He  puzzled  for 
a  long  time  over  this,  till  at  last  he  fell  asleep.  He  was 
roused  by  Eamoo  entering  the  room. 

"What  is  it,  Eamoo?" 

"  Me  not  know,  sahib.  Massa  Thorndyke's  door  shut. 
Me  no  able  to  make  him  hear." 

"  That  is  curious,  Eamoo/'  Mark  said,  jumping  hastily 
out  of  bed.  "  I  will  be  with  you  in  a  minute."  He 
slipped  on  his  trousers,  coat,  and  slippers,  and  then  ac- 
companied Eamoo  to  his  father's  door.  He  knocked  again 
and  again,  and  each  time  more  loudly,  his  face  growing 
paler  as  he  did  so.  Then  he  threw  himself  against  the 
door,  but  it  was  solid  and  heavy. 

"  Fetch  me  an  ax,  Eamoo,"  he  said.  "  There  is  some- 
thing wrong  here." 

Eamoo  returned  in  a  short  time  with  two  men-servants 
and  with  the  ax  in  his  hands.  Mark  took  it,  and  with 
a  few  mighty  blows  split  the  woodwork,  and  then  hurling 
himself  against  the  door,  it  yielded.  As  he  entered  the 
room  a  cry  broke  from  his  lips.  Within  a  pace  or  two 
of  the  bed  the  Squire  lay  on  the  ground,  on  his  face,  and 
a  deep  stain  on  the  carpet  at  once  showed  that  his  death 
had  been  a  violent  one.  Mark  knelt  by  his  side  now, 
and  touched  him.  The  body  was  stiff  and  cold.  The 
Squire  must  have  been  dead  for  some  hours. 

"  Murdered!  "  he  said  in  a  low  voice;  "  my  father  has 
been  murdered."  He  remained  in  horror-struck  silence 
for  a  minute  or  two;  then  he  slowly  rose  to  his  feet. 

"  Let  us  lay  him  on  the  bed,"  he  said,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  the  three  men  he  lifted  and  laid  him  there. 

"  He  has  been  stabbed,"  he  murmured,  pointing  to  a 
small  cut  in  the  middle  of  the  deep  stain,  just  over  the 
heart. 

Eamoo,  after  helping  to  lift  the  Squire  onto  the  bed, 
had  slid  down  to  the  floor,  and  crouched  there,  sobbing 
convulsively.  The  two  servants  stood  helpless  and  aghast. 
Mark  looked  round  the  room:  the  window  was  open.  He 
walked  to  it.  A  garden  ladder  stood  outside,  showing 
how  the  assassin  had  obtained  entrance.    Mark  stood  rigid 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  115 

and  silent,  his  hands  tightly  clenched,  his  breath  coming 
slowly  and  heavily.    At  last  he  roused  himself. 

"  Leave  things  just  as  they  are,"  he  said  to  the  men  in 
a  tone  of  unnatural  calmness,  "  and  fasten  the  door  up 
again,  and  turn  a  table  or  something  of  that  sort  against 
it  on  the  outside,  so  that  no  one  can  come  in.  John,  do 
you  tell  one  of  the  grooms  to  saddle  a  horse  and  ride  down 
into  the  town.  Let  him  tell  the  head  constable  to  come 
up  at  once,  and  also  Dr.  Holloway.  Then  he  is  to  go  on 
to  Sir  Charles  Harris,  tell  him  what  has  happened,  and 
beg  him  to  ride  over  at  once.  Come,  Eamoo,"  he  said  in 
a  softer  voice,  "  you  can  do  no  good  here,  poor  fellow, 
and  the  room  must  be  closed.  It  is  a  heavy  loss  to 
you  too." 

The  Hindoo  rose  slowly,  the  tears  streaming  down  his 
face. 

"  He  was  a  good  master,"  he  said,  "  and  I  loved  him  just 
as  I  loved  the  Colonel,  sahib.  Eamoo  would  have  given 
his  life  for  him." 

With  his  hand  upon  Eamoo's  shoulder,  Mark  left  the 
room;  he  passed  a  group  of  women  huddled  together  with 
blanched  faces,  at  a  short  distance  down  the  passage,  the 
news  that  the  Squire's  door  could  not  be  opened  and 
the  sounds  made  by  its  being  broken  in  having  called 
them  together.  Mark  could  not  speak.  He  silently  shook 
his  head  and  passed  on.  As  he  reached  his  room  he  heard 
shrieks  and  cries  behind  him,  as  the  men  informed  them 
of  what  had  taken  place.  On  reaching  his  door,  the 
one  opposite  opened,  and  Mrs.  Cunningham  in  a  dressing- 
gown  came  out. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  Mark,  and  what  are  these  cries 
.about?  " 

"A  dreadful  thing  has  happened,  Mrs.  Cunningham; 
my  father  has  been  murdered  in  the  night.  Please  tell 
Millicent." 

Then  he  closed  the  door  behind  liim,  threw  himself  on 
his  bed,  and  burst  into  a  passion  of  tears.  The  Squire 
had  been  a  good  father  to  him,  and  had  made  him  his 
friend  and  companion — a  treatment  rare  indeed  at  a  time 
when  few  sons  would  think  of  sitting  down  in  their 
father's  presence  until  told  to  do  so.     Since  he  had  left 


116  COLONEi,   THORNDYZE'S  SECRET. 

school,  eight  years  before,  they  had  been  very  much  to- 
gether. For  the  last  two  or  three  years  Mark  had  been  a 
good  deal  out,  but  in  this  his  father  had  encouraged  him. 

"  I  like  to  see  you  make  your  own  friends,  Mark,  and 
go  your  own  way,"  he  used  to  say;  "  it  is  as  bad  for  a  lad 
to  be  tied  to  his  father's  coat-tail  as  fo  his  mother's  apron- 
string.  Get  fresh  ideas  and  form  your  own  opinions.  It 
will  do  for  you  what  a  public  school  would  have  done; 
make  you  self-reliant  and  independent." 

Still,  of  course,  a  great  portion  of  his  time  had  been 
with  his  father,  and  they  often  would  ride  round  the 
•estate  together  and  talk  to  the  tenants,  or  walk  in  the 
.gardens  and  forcing-houses.  Generally  Mark  would  be 
'driven  by  his  father  to  the  meet  if  it  took  place  within 
reasonable  distance,  his  horse  being  sent  on  beforehand 
hy  a  groom,  while  of  an  evening  they  would  sit  in  the 
Mbrary,  smoke  their  long  pipes,  and  talk  over  politics  or 
''he  American  and  French  wars. 

All  this  was  over.  There  was  but  one  thing  now  that 
lie  could  do  for  his  father,  and  that  was  to  revenge  his 
death,  and  at  the  thought  he  rose  from  his  bed  impa- 
tiently and  paced  up  and  down  the  room.  He  must  wait 
for  a  week,  wait  till  the  funeral  was  over,  and  then  he 
would  be  on  Bastow's  track.  If  all  other  plans  failed  he 
iFould  spend  his  time  in  coaches  until  at  last  the  villain 
should  try  to  stop  one;  but  there  must  be  other  ways. 
Could  he  find  no  other  he  would  apply  for  employment 
£is  a  Bow  Street  runner,  serve  for  a  year  to  find  out  their 
methods,  and  acquaint  himself  with  the  places  where 
<  riminals  were  harbored.  It  would  be  the  one  object  of 
his  life,  until  he  succeeded  in  laying  his  hand  on  Bastow's 
shoulder.  He  would  not  shoot  him  if  he  could  help  it. 
He  should  prefer  to  see  him  in  the  dock,  to  hear  the 
sentence  passed  on  him,  and  to  see  it  carried  out.  As  to 
i  he  treasure,  it  was  not  worth  a  thought  till  his  first  duty 
nas  discharged. 

Presently  a  servant  brought  him  a  cup  of  tea.  He 
<t'rank  it  mechanically,  and  then  proceeded  to  dress  him- 
self. Sir  Charles  Harris  would  be  here  soon  and  the 
iothers;  indeed,  he  had  scarcely  finished  when  he  was  told 
ifchat  the  doctor  from  Beigate  had  just  arrived,  and  that 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  Ill 

ihe  constable  had  come  up  half  an  hour  before.  He  at 
once  went  down  to  the  library,  into  which  the  doctor  had 
been  shown. 

"  You  have  heard  what  has  happened,"  he  said,  as  he 
shook  hands  silently.  "  I  expect  Sir  Charles  Harris  here 
in  half  an  hour.  I  suppose  you  will  not  go  up  till  then?  " 
No,  I  think  it  will  be  best  that  no  none  should  go  in 
until  he  comes.  I  have  been  speaking  to  Simcox;  he  was 
going  in,  but  I  told  him  I  thought  it  was  better  to  wait.- 
I  may  as  well  take  the  opportunity  of  going  upstairs  to 
see  Mr.  Bastow.  I  hear  that  he  fainted  when  he  heard 
the  news,  and  that  he  is  completely  prostrate." 

"  Two  such  shocks  might  well  prove  fatal  to  him," 
Mark  said;  "  he  has  been  weak  and  ailing  for  some  time." 

"  Two  shocks?  "  the  doctor  repeated  interrogatively. 

"  Ah,  I  forgot  you  had  not  heard  about  the  affair  yes- 
terday evening:  a  man  fired  at  us  through  the  window 
when  we  were  sitting  round  the  fire,  before  the  candle.j 
were  lit.  The  ball  passed  between  my  father's  head  and 
Mr.  Bastow's;  both  had  a  narrow  escape;  the  bullet  is 
imbedded  in  the  mantelpiece.  I  will  have  it  cut  out;  it- 
may  be  a  useful  item  of  evidence  some  day." 

"But  what  could  have  been  the  man's  motive?  Your 
father  was  universally  popular." 

"  Except  with  ill-doers,"  Mark  said.  "  I  ran  out  and 
chased  the  fellow  for  half  a  mile,  and  should  have  caught 
him  if  he  had  not  had  a  horse  waiting  for  him  in  a  lane, 
and  he  got  off  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth.  I  hope  that  next 
time  I  meet  him  he  will  not  be  so  lucky.  Mr.  Bastow 
was  very  much  shaken,  and  went  to  bed  soon  afterwards. 
I  am  not  surprised  that  this  second  shock  should  be  too 
much  for  him.  Will  you  go  up  and  see  him?  I  will 
speak  to  Simcox." 

The  constable  was  out  in  the  garden. 

"  This  is  a  terrible  business,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  I  sup- 
pose, after  what  you  told  me,  you  have  your  suspicions?  " 

"  They  are  not  suspicions  at  all — they  are  certainties. 
Did  you  hear  that  he  tried  to  shoot  my  father  yesterday 
evening?  " 

"  No,  sir,  I  have  heard  nothing  about  it." 

Mark  repeated  the  story  of  the  attempt  and  pursuit. 


118  COLONEL   THORNDYKE  S  SECRET. 

"Could  you  swear  to  him,  Mr.  Thorn  dyke?'* 

"  No,  there  was  not  much  light  left;  besides,  as  I  have 
not  seen  him  for  the  last  eight  years,  I  should  certainly 
not  be  able  to  recognize  him  unless  I  had  time  to  have 
a  good  look  at  him.  Had  it  only  been  last  night's  affair' 
it  might  have  been  anyone;  but  the  shooting  through 
the  window  was  not  the  act  of  a  thief,  but  of  an  assassin, 
who  could  only  have  been  influenced  by  private  enmity. 
I  quite  see  that  at  present  I  have  no  legal  evidence  against 
Bastow;  I  am  not  even  in  a  position  to  prove  that  he  is 
in  the  country,  for  it  cannot  be  said  that  my  father's 
belief  that  he  recognized  the  voice  of  the  man  who  said 
'  Stand  and  deliver! '  is  proof.  I  doubt  if  anyone  could 
swear  that,  when  he  only  heard  three  words,  he  was  abso- 
lutely sure  that  it  was  the  voice  of  a  man  he  had  not  seen 
for  some  years.  However,  fortunately,  that  will  make  no 
difference;  the  man  is,  as  I  told  you,  wanted  for  his  head- 
ing the  mutiny  in  the  convict  prison  at  Sydney,  which  will 
be  quite  sufficient  to  hang  him  without  this  business. 
But  I  own  that  I  should  prefer  that  he  were  hung  for 
my  father's  murder  if  we  could  secure  sufficient  evidence. 
Moreover,  there  is  the  attack  upon  us  three  or  four  months 
ago,  and  with  the  evidence  of  the  surgeon  who  attended 
him  as  to  his  wound,  that  would  be  enough  to  hang 
him.  But  we  have  first  got  to  catch  him,  and  that  I 
mean  to  make  my  business,  however  long  the  search  may 
take  me." 

"  Was  anything  taken  last  night,  sir?  " 

"  I  don't  know;  I  did  not  look.  We  shall  see  to  that 
when  we.  go  upstairs.  We  may  as  well  go  indoors  now; 
Sir  Charles  may  be  here  in  a  few  minutes,  arid  I  want 
to  hear  Dr.  Holloway's  report  as  to  Mr.  Bastow." 

"  He  does  not  suspect,  I  hope,  sir?  " 

"  No,  thank  God;  my  father  never  mentioned  to  him 
anything  he  heard  about  his  son,  or  his  suspicions,  there- 
fore he  has  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  fellow  is  not 
still  in  the  convict  prison  at  Sydney.  We  shall  keep  it 
from  him  now,  whatever  happens;  but  it  would,  for  his 
sake,  be  best  that  this  shock  should  prove  too  much  for 
him.    He  has  had  a  very  hard  time  of  it  altogether." 

"  He  is  terribly  prostrate,"  the  doctor  reported  when 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  119 

Mark  joined  him.  "  I  don't  think  that  he  will  get  oyer 
it.  He  is  scarcely  conscious  now.  You  see,  he  is  an  old 
man,  and  has  no  reserve  of  strength  to  fall  back  upon. 
Your  father  has  been  such  a  good  friend  to  him  that  it 
is  not  surprising  the  news  should  have  been  too  much 
for  him.  I  examined. him  at  the  Squire's  request  some 
months  ago  as  to  his  heart's  action,  which  was  so  weak 
that  I  told  the  Squire  then  that  he  might  go  off  at  any 
time,  and  I  rather  wonder  that  he  recovered  even  tem- 
porarily from  the  shock." 

In  a  few  minutes  Sir  Charles  Harris  drove  up. 

"  This  is  terrible  news,  my  dear  Mark,"  he  said,  as  he 
leaped  from  his  gig  and  wrung  Mark's  hand — "  terrible. 
I  don't  know  when  I  have  had  such  a  shock;  he  was  a 
noble  fellow  in  all  respects,  a  warm  friend,  an  excellent 
magistrate,  a  kind  landlord,  good  all  round.  I  can 
scarcely  believe  it  yet.  A  burglar,  of  course.  I  suppose 
he  entered  the  house  for  the  purpose  of  robbery,  when 
your  father  awoke  and  jumped  out  of  bed,  there  was  a 
tussle,  and  the  scoundrel  killed  him;  at  least,  that  is  what 
I  gather  from  the  story  that  the  groom  told  me." 

"  That  is  near  it,  Sir  Charles,  but  I  firmly  believe  that 
robbery  was  not  the  object,  but  murder;  for  murder  was 
attempted  yesterday  evening,"  and  he  informed  the  mag- 
istrate of  the  shot  fired  through  the  window. 

"Bless  me,  you  don't  say  so!"  the  magistrate  ex- 
claimed. "  That  alters  the  case  altogether,  and  certainly 
would  seem  to  make  the  act  one  of  premeditated  murder; 
and  yet,  surely,  the  Squire  could  not  have  had  an  enemy. 
Some  of  the  men  whom  we  have  sentenced  may  have  felt  a 
grudge  against  him,  but  surely  not  sufficient  to  lead  them 
to  a  crime  like  this." 

"  I  will  talk  of  it  with  you  afterwards,  Sir  Charles.  I 
have  the  very  strongest  suspicions,  although  no  absolute 
proofs.  Now,  will  you  first  come  upstairs?  Doctor  Hollo- 
way  is  here  and  Simcox,  but  no  one  has  entered  the  room 
since  I  left  it;  I  thought  it  better  that  it  should  be  left 
undisturbed  until  you  came." 

"  Quite  so;  we  will  go  up  at  once." 

An  examination  of  the  room  showed  nothing  whatever 
that  would  afford  the  slightest  clew.     The  Squire's  watch 


120  COLONEL   THOBNJDTKE'S  SECRET 

was  still  in  the  watch-pocket  at  the  head  of  the  bed,  his 
purse  was  on  a  small  table  beside  him;  apparently  nothing 
had  been  touched  in  the  room. 

"  If  robbery  was  the  object,"  Sir  Charles  said  gravely, 
■'  it  has  evidently  not  been  carried  out,  and  it  is  probable 
that  Mr.  Thorndyke  was  partly  woke  by  the  opening  of 
the  window,  and  that  he  was  not  thoroughly  aroused 
until  the  man  was  close  to  his  bed;  then  he  leapt  out 
and  seized  him.  Probably  the  stab  was,  as  Dr.  Holloway 
assures  us,  instantly  fatal,  and  he  may  have  fallen  so 
heavily  that  the  man,  fearing  that  the  house  would  be 
alarmed  at  the  sound,  at  once  fled,  without  even  waiting 
to  snatch  up  the  purse.  The  whole  thing  is  so  clear  that 
/it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  ask  any  further  questions.  Of 
course,  there  must  be  an  inquest  to-morrow.  I  should 
.'.ike  when  I  go  down  to  ask  the  gardener  where  he  left 
'the  ladder  yesterday.  Have  you  examined  the  ground 
'  ?or  footmarks?  " 

"  Yes,  Sir  Charles,  but  you  see  it  was  a  pretty  hard 
jfrost  last  night,  and  I  cannot  find  any  marks  at  all.  The 
ground  must  have  been  like  iron  about  the  time  when  the 
ladder  was  placed  there." 

The  gardener,  on  being  called  in,  said  that  the  ladder 
was  always  hung  up  outside  the  shed  at  the  back  of  the 
house;  there  was  a  chain  round  it,  and  he  had  found  that 
morning  that  one  the  links  had  been  filed  through. 

"  The  Squire  was  most  particular  about  its  being 
locked,  as  Mr.  Mark  knows,  so  that  it  could  not  be  used 
by  any  ill-disposed  chaps  who  might  come  along  at  night. 
'The  key  of  the  padlock  was  always  hung  on  a  nail  round 
the  other  side  of  the  shed.  The  Squire  knew  of  it,  and 
so  did  Mr.  Mark  and  me;  so  that  while  it  was  out  of  the 
way  of  the  eyes  of  a  thief,  any  of  us  could  run  and  get 
it  and  undo  the  padlock  in  a  minute  in  case  of  fire  or  any- 
thing of  that  sort.  I  have  not  used  the  ladder,  maybe,  for 
a  fortnight,  but  I  know  that  it  was  hanging  in  its  place 
yesterday  afternoon." 

"  I  expect  the  fellow  was  prowling  about  here  for  some 
time,"  Mark  said.  "  I  was  chatting  with  my  father  in 
the  library  when  I  thought  I  heard  a  noise,  and  I  threw 
open  the  window,  which  had  by  some  carelessness  been 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  121 

left  a  little  open,  and  went  out,  and  listened  for  nearly 
an  hour,  but  I  could  hear  nothing,  and  put  it  down  to 
the  fact  that  I  was  nervous  owing  to  what  had  happened 
early  in  the  evening,  and  that  the  noise  was  simply  fancy, 
or  that  the  frost  had  caused  a  dry  branch  of  one  of  the 
shrubs  to  crack." 

"  How  was  it  you  did  not  notice  the  window  was  open 
as  you  went  in?" 

"  The  curtains  were  drawn,  sir.  I  glanced  at  that 
when  I  went  into  the  room  with  my  father.  After  being 
shot  at  once  from  outside,  it  was  possible  that  we  might 
be  again;  though  I  own  that  I  did  not  for  a  moment 
think  that  the  fellow  would  return  after  the  hot  chase 
that  I  gave  him.  I  suppose  after  I  went  in  he  looked 
about  and  found  the  ladder;  it  is  likely  enough  that  he 
would  have  had  a  file  with  him  in  case  he  had  any  bars 
to  cut  through  to  get  into  the  house,  but  to  my  mind  it 
is  more  likely  that  he  knew  where  to  find  the  ladder  with- 
out any  looking  for  it;  it  has  hung  there  as  long  as  I  can 
remember." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  the  gardener  said,  "  I  have  worked  for  the 
Squire  ever  since  he  came  here,  and  the  ladder  was  bought 
a  week  or  two  after  he  took  me  on,  and  the  Squire  set- 
tled where  it  should  be  hung,  so  that  it  might  be  handy 
either  in  case  of  fire  or  if  wanted  for  a  painting  job. 
This  aint  the  first  ladder;  we  got  a  new  one  four  years 
ago." 

"  It  is  singular  that  the  man  should  have  known  which 
was  the  window  of  your  father's  room." 

"  Very  singular,"  Mark  said. 

Shortly  after  the  doctor  left,  and  Mark  had  a  long 
talk  with  the  magistrate  in  the  library,  and  told  him 
his  reasons  for  suspecting  that  the  murderer  was  Arthur 
Bastow. 

"  It  certainly  looks  like  it,"  the  magistrate  said 
thoughtfully,  after  he  had  heard  Mark's  story,  "though 
of  course  it  is  only  a  case  of  strong  suspicion,  and  not 
of  legal  proof.  Your  father's  recognition  of  the  voice 
could  have  scarcely  been  accepted  as  final  when  he  heard 
but  three  words,  still  the  whole  thing  hangs  together. 
The  fellow  was,  I  should  say,  capable  of  anything.     I 


122  COLONEL  THORNDTEE'S  SECRET. 

don't  know  that  I  ever  had  a  prisoner  before  me  whose 
demeanor  was  so  offensive  and  insolent,  and  if  it  can  be 
proved  that  Bastow  is  in  England  I  should  certainly  ac- 
cept your  view  of  the  case.  He  would  probably  have 
known  both  where  the  ladder  was  to  be  found  and  which 
was  the  window  of  your  father's  bedroom." 

"  I  should  certainly  think  that  he  would  know  it,  sir. 
The  bedroom  was  the  same  that  my  grandfather  used  to 
sleep  in,  and  probably  during  the  years  before  we  came 
here  young  Bastow  would  have  often  been  over  the  house. 
The  first  year  or  two  after  we  came  he  was  often  up 
here  with  his  father,  but  I  know  that  my  father  took 
such  an  objection  to  him,  his  manner  and  language  were 
so  offensive,  that  he  would  not  have  me,  boy  as  I  was — 
I  was  only  about  eleven  when  he  came  here — associate 
with  him  in  the  smallest  degree.  But  during  those  two 
years  he  may  very  well  have  noticed  where  the  ladder 
was." 

"  Do  you  intend  to  say  anything  about  all  this  to- 
morrow at  the  inquest,  Mark?" 

"I  don't  think  I  shall  do  so,"  Mark  said  moodily.  "  I 
am  certain  of  it  myself,  but  I  don't  think  any  man  would 
convict  him  without  stronger  evidence  than  I  could  give. 
However,  that  business  in  Australia  will  be  sufficient  to 
hang  him." 

"  I  think  you  are  right,  Mark.  Of  course,  if  you  do 
light  upon  any  evidence,  we  can  bring  this  matter  up  in 
another  court;  if  not,  there  will  be  no  occasion  for  you 
to  appear  in  it  at  all,  but  leave  it  altogether  for  the 
authorities  to  prove  the  Sydney  case  against  him;  it  will 
only  be  necessary  for  the  constables  who  got  up  the  other 
case  against  him  to  prove  his  sentence,  and  for  the  re- 
ports of  the  Governor  of  the  jail  to  be  read.  There  will 
be  no  getting  over  that,  and  he  will  be  hung  as  a  matter 
of  course.  It  will  be  a  terrible  thing  for  his  unhappy 
father." 

"  I  do  not  think  that  he  is  likely  to  come  to  know  it, 
sir;  the  shock  of  the  affair  yesterday  and  that  of  this 
morning  have  completely  prostrated  him,  and  Dr.  Hollo- 
way,  who  was  up  with  him  before  you  arrived,  thinks  that 
there  is  very  little  chance  of  his  recovery." 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  123 

When  the  magistrate  had  left,  Mark  sent  a  request  to 
Mrs.  Cunningham  that  she  would  come  down  for  a  few 
minutes.     She  joined  him  in  the  drawing  room. 

"  Thank  you  for  coming  down/'  he  said  quietly.  "  I 
wanted  to  ask  how  you  were,  and  how  Millicent  is." 

"  She  is  terribly  upset.  You  see,  the  Squire  was  the 
only  father  she  had  ever  known;  and  had  he  been  really 
so  he  could  not  have  been  kinder.  It  is  a  grievous  loss 
to  me  also,  after  ten  years  of  happiness  here;  but  I  have 
had  but  little  time  to  think  of  my  own  loss  yet,  I  have 
been  too  occupied  in  soothing  the  poor  girl.  How  are 
you  feeling  yourself,  Mark?" 

"  I  don't  understand  myself,"  he  said.  "  I  don't  think 
that  anyone  could  have  loved  his  father  better  than  I 
have  done;  but  since  I  broke  down  when  I  first  went  to 
my  room  I  seem  to  have  no  inclination  to  give  way  to 
sorrow.  I  feel  frozen  up;  my  voice  does  not  sound  to  me 
as  if  it  were  my  own;  I  am  able  to  discuss  matters  as 
calmly  as  if  I  were  speaking  of  a  stranger.  The  one  thing 
that  I  feel  passionately  anxious  about  is  to  set  out  on  the 
track  of  the  assassin." 

"  There  is  nothing  unusual  in  your  state  of  feeling, 
Mark.  Such  a  thing  as  this  is  like  a  wound  in  battle; 
the  shock  is  so  great  that  for  a  time  it  numbs  all  pain. 
I  have  heard  my  husband  say  that  a  soldier  who  has  had 
his  arm  carried  off  by  a  cannon  ball  will  fall  from  the 
shock,  and  when  he  recovers  consciousness  will  be  ignorant 
where  he  has  been  hit.  It  is  so  with  you;  probably  the 
sense  of  pain  and  loss  will  increase  every  day  as  you  take 
it  in  more  and  more.  As  for  what  you  say  about  the  mur- 
derer, it  will  undoubtedly  be  a  good  thing  for  you  to  have 
something  to  employ  your  thoughts  and  engage  all  your 
faculties  as  soon  as  this  is  all  over.  Is  there  anything 
that  I  can  do?  " 

"  No,  thank  you;  the  inquest  will  be  held  to-morrow. 
I  have  sent  down  to  Chatterton  to  come  up  this  afternoon 
to  make  the  necessary  preparations  for  the  funeral.  Let 
me  see,  to-day  is  Wednesday,  is  it  not?  I  seem  to  have 
lost  all  account  of  the  time." 

"  Yes,  Wednesday." 

"  Then  I  suppose  the  funeral  will  be  on  Monday  or 


124  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

Tuesday.  If  there  is  any  message  that  you  want  sent 
down  to  the  town,  one  of  the  grooms  will  carry  it  when- 
ever you  wish." 

"  Thank  you;  'tis  not  worth  sending  particularly,  any 
time  will  do,  but  I  shall  want  to  send  a  note  to  Mrs.  Wil- 
son presently,  asking  her  to  come  up  the  first  thing  to- 
morrow morning."       '-* 

"  He  can  take  it  whenever  you  like,  Mrs.  Cunningham. 
I  have  nothing  to  send  down  for,  as  far  as  I  know.  I  sup- 
pose you  have  heard  that  the  doctor  thinks  very  badly  of 
Mr.  Bastow?" 

"  Yes.    Eamoo  is  sitting  with  him  now." 

"  Then  I  think,  if  you  will  write  your  note  at  once, 
Mrs.  Cunningham,  I  will  send  one  down  to  Dr.  Holloway, 
asking  him  to  send  an  experienced  nurse.  He  said  he 
should  call  again  this  afternoon,  but  the  sooner  a  nurse 
comes  the  better." 

That  afternoon  Mark  wrote  a  letter  to  the  family 
solicitors,  telling  them  of  what  had  taken  place,  and 
stating  that  the  funeral  would  be  on  the  following  Tues- 
day, and  asking  them  to  send  down  a  clerk  with  his 
father's  will,  or  if  one  of  the  partners  could  manage  to 
come  down,  he  should  greatly  prefer  it,  in  view  of  the  ex- 
planations that  would  be  necessary.  He  had  already  sent 
off  a  letter  to  the  head  of  the  Detective  Department, 
asking  him  to  send  down  one  of  his  best  men  as  soon  as 
possible.  Then  he  went  out  into  the  garden,  and  walked 
backwards  and  forwards  for  about  two  hours,  and  the'n 
returned  to  what  he  thought  would  be  a  solitary  meal. 
Mrs.  Cunningham,  however,  came  down.  She  had 
thoughtfully  had  the  large  dining-table  pushed  on  one 
side,  and  a  small  one  placed  near  the  fire. 

"  I  thought  it  would  be  more  comfortable,"  she  said, 
"  as  there  are  only  our  two  selves,  just  to  sit  here." 

He  thanked  her  with  a  look.  It  was  a  nice  little  din- 
ner, and  Mark,  to  his  surprise,  ate  it  with  an  appetite. 
Except  the  cup  of  tea  that  he  had  taken  in  the  morning, 
and  a  glass  of  wine  at  midday,  he  had  touched  nothing. 
Mrs.  Cunningham  was  a  woman  of  great  tact,  and  by 
making  him  talk  of  the  steps  that  he  intended  to  take  to 
hunt  down  the  assassin,  kept  him  from  thinking. 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  125 

"  Thank  you  very  much,  Mrs.  Cunningham,"  he  said, 
when  the  dinner  was  over.    "  I  feel  very  much  better." 

"  I  have  brought  down  my  work,"  she  said,  "  and  will 
sit  here  while  you  drink  your  wine  and  smoke  a  pipe. 
Millicent  has  gone  to  bed,  completely  worn  out,  and  it 
will  be  pleasanter  for  us  both  to  sit  here  than  to  be 
alone." 

Mark  gladly  agreed  to  the  proposal.  She  turned  the 
conversation  now  to  India,  and  talked  of  her  life  there. 

"  I  was  not  out  there  very  long,"  she  said.  "  I  was 
engaged  to  my  husband  when  he  first  went  out,  and  six 
years  afterwards  joined  him  there,  and  we  were  married. 
Your  uncle,  who  was  a  major  of  his  regiment,  gave  me 
away.  My  husband  got  his  company  six  months  after- 
wards, and  was  killed  three  years  later.  My  pension  as 
his  widow  was  not  a  large  one,  and  when  your  uncle 
offered  me  the  charge  of  his  daughter  I  was  very  glad  to 
accept  it.  He  gave  some  idea  of  his  plans  for  her.  I 
thought  they  were  very  foolish,  but  when  I  saw  that  his 
mind  was  thoroughly  made  up  I  did  not  attempt  to  dis- 
suade him.  He  said  that  when  he  came  home  to  England 
(and  he  had  no  idea  when  that  would  be)  he  should  have 
me  here,  as  head  of  his  establishment,  and  it  would  be 
given  out  that  the  child  was  his  ward.  I  hoped  that  he 
would  alter  his  mind  later  on,  but,  as  you  know,  he  never 
did." 

"  Well,  of  course,  she  will  have  to  be  told  now,"  Mark 
said. 

"Do  you  think  so?  It  seems  to  me  that  it  were  better 
that  she  would  go  as  she  is,  at  any  rate,  until  she  is 
twenty-one." 

"  That  would  be  quite  impossible,"  Mark  said  decidedly. 
"  How  could  I  assume  the  position  of  master  here?  And 
even  if  I  could,  it  would  be  a  strange  thing  indeed  for 
me  to  be  here  with  a  girl  the  age  of  my  cousin,  even  with 
you  as  chaperon.  You  must  see  yourself  that  it  would 
be  quite  impossible." 

"  But  how  could  she  live  here  by  herself?" 

"  I  don't  think  she  could  live  here  by  herself,"  Mark 
said,  "  especially  after  what  has  happened.  Of  course,  it 
has  all  got  to  be  talked  over,  but  my  idea  is  that  the  place 


126  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

had  better  be  shut  up,  and  that  you  should  take,  in  your 
own  name,  a  house  in  London.  I  suppose  she  will  want 
masters  for  the  harp,  and  so  on.  For  a  time,  at  any  rate, 
that  would  be  the  best  plan,  unless  you  would  prefer 
some  other  place  to  London.  We  have  done  our  best  to 
carry  out  my  uncle's  wishes,  but  circumstances  have  been 
too  strong  for  us,  and  it  cannot  be  kept  up  any  longer; 
but  there  is  no  reason,  if  you  and  she  prefer  it,  why  she 
should  not  be  known,  until  you  return  here,  by  her  pres- 
ent name.  Of  course  the  affair  will  create  a  great  deal 
of  talk  down  here,  but  in  London  no  one  will  know  that 
Millicent  is  an  heiress,  though  it  is  hardly  likely  that  you 
will  make  many  acquaintances  for  a  time." 

"  Have  you  known  it  long,  Mark?  I  thought  that  you 
were  kept  in  ignorance  of  it." 

"  I  only  heard  it  yesterday  evening,  Mrs.  Cunningham; 
after  that  shot  through  the  window  my  father  thought  I 
ought  to  know  all  about  it,  for  the  attempt  might  be  re- 
peated more  successfully.  He  told  me  all  about  her,  and 
about  the  treasure." 

"What  treasure?"  Mrs.  Cunningham  said.  "I  don't 
know  what  you  mean." 

He  then  told  her  of  the  story  his  uncle  had  related,  and 
how  he  had  been  prevented  from  giving  full  instructions 
for  its  discovery,  the  only  clew  being  a  gold  coin  and  the 
word  Masulipatam,  and  that  this  treasure  had  been  left 
equally  divided  between  him  and  Millicent  by  his  will. 

"  He  told  me  that  he  should  provide  for  you,"  Mrs. 
Cunningham  remarked,  "  when  1  said  that  it  would  be 
unfair  that  you  should  be  brought  up  believing  yourself 
the  heir.  I  never  heard  any  more  about  it,  but  I  am  glad 
that  it  is  so." 

"  I  fancy  the  chance  of  its  coming  to  either  of  us  is 
very  small,"  Mark  said;  "  a- coin  and  a  word  are  not  much 
to  go  upon.  I  have  not  the  most  remote  idea  what  they 
mean,  and  whether  the  treasure  is  in  England  or  in  India. 
Heaven  only  knows." 

"  Possibly,  when  he  made  the  will,  he  may  have  told 
the  solicitors  where  it  was,  and  instructed  them  to  keep 
it  secret  until  the  time  that  Millicent  came  into  possession 
of  the  estate." 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  127 

"It  is  just  possible  he  did  so,  Mrs.  Cunningham,  but 
the  efforts  he  made  to  speak  at  the  last  moment  would 
almost  seem  to  show  that  he  had  not  told  them,  for,  if 
he  had,  the  matter  would  have  been  of  no  vital  importance 
one  way  or  the  other.  Will  Millicent  be  well  enough  to 
come  down  in  the  morning?" 

"  I  hope  so." 

"  I  hope  so,  too;  but,  at  any  rate,  keep  her  up  in  her 
room  till  the  afternoon.  The  inquest  will  be  at  eleven 
o'clock,  and  it  is  better  that  she  should  not  come  down 
until  everyone  has  gone  away." 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

Directly  after  breakfast  was  over  the  next  morning 
the  Kector  came  in. 

"  I  would  not  come  in  yesterday,  Mark,"  he  said.  "  I 
knew  that  you  would  be  best  alone;  and,  indeed,  I  was 
myself  so  terribly  upset  by  the  news  that  I  did  not  feel 
equal  to  it.  I  need  not  say  how  deeply  I  and  my  wife 
.  sympathize  with  you.  Never  did  a  kinder  heart  beat  than 
your  father's;  never  have  I  seen  people  so  universally 
grieved  as  they  are  in  the  village.  I  doubt  whether  a 
man  went  to  work  yesterday,  and  as  for  the  women,  had 
it  been  a  father  they  had  lost  they  could  not  be  more 
affected." 

"  Yes,  he  will  be  greatly  missed,"  Mark  said  unsteadily; 
"  and,  between  ourselves — but  this  must  go  no  further — - 
I  have  a  suspicion,  amounting  almost  to  a  certainty,  that 
the  hand  that  dealt  this  blow  is  the  same  that  caused  the 
vacancy  that  brought  you  here." 

"Do  you  mean  Arthur  Bastow?"  Mr.  Greg  said  in 
amazement.  "  Why,  I  thought  that  he  was  transported 
for  fifteen  years." 

Then  Mark  told  the  Eector  the  inner  history  of  the 
past  sis  months,  and  of  the  report  they  had  had  from 
the  officer  at  Bow  Street  of  the  personal  appearance  of  the 
wounded  man. 

"  Other  things  are  in  favor  of  it,"  he  went  on.  "  My 
father's  watch  and  purse  were  untouched,  and  a  stranger 
on  a  dark  night  would  be  hardly  likely  to  have  discovered 
the  ladder,  or  to  have  had  a  file  in  his  pocket  with  which 
to  cut  through  a  link,  though  this  might  have  been  part 
of  the  apparatus  of  any  burglar.  Then,  again,  an  ordinary 
man  would  hardly  have  known  which  was  my  father's  bed- 
Toom,  except,  indeed,  that  he  saw  the  light  there  after 
those  in  the  ladies'  rooms  were  extinguished;  but,  at  any 
rate,  he  could  not  have  told  which  was  my  father's  and 

128 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  129 

which  was  mine.  But  all  this  is,  as  I  said,  Mr.  Greg,  quite 
between  ourselves.  I  had  a  long  talk  yesterday  with  Sir 
Charles  Harris,  and,  as  he  said,  there  is  no  legal  proof 
whatever,  strong  as  the  suspicion  is;  so  I  am  going  to  say 
nothing  on  the  subject  at  the  inquest.  The  scoundrel's 
poor  father  is  dying,  happily  in  ignorance  of  all  this.  Dr. 
Holloway  was  up  with  him  all  night,  and  told  me  this 
morning  before  he  drove  off  that  it  is  very  unlikely  that  he 
will  get  through  the  day." 

"  It  is  all  very  terrible,  Mark;  but  I  cannot  deny  that 
everything  points  to  the  man.  Surely  no  one  else  could 
have  cut  short  so  useful  a  life,  for  certainly  no  ordinary 
degree  of  hatred  would  drive  a  man,  however  brutal  his 
nature,  to  commit  such  a  crime,  and  to  run  the  risk  of 
hanging  for  it.  Let  us  take  a  brisk  walk  in  the  garden 
for  an  hour — that  will  be  the  best  thing  for  you.  I  will 
stop  with  you  until  the  inquest  is  over,  and  then  you  had 
better  come  over  and  have  lunch  with  us." 

"  Thank  you;  I  cannot  do  so,"  Mark  said,  "  though  I 
should  like  to.  In  the  first  place,  Millicent  will  come 
downstairs  this  afternoon,  and  I  should  like  to  be  in  to 
meet  her.  Had  it  not  been  for  that  I  might  have  come,  as 
I  can  walk  across  the  fields  to  the  Kectory  without  passing 
through  the  village.  There  is  another  reason.  I  sent  up 
yesterday  by  the  coach  a  letter  to  be  delivered  at  once  by 
hand,  and  I  expect  a  detective  down  here  by  one  o'clock. 
I  don't  know  that  he  will  do  any  good;  but  at  the  same 
time  it  will  give  me  something  to  do,  and  at  present  there 
is  nothing  I  dread  so  much  as  sitting  alone.  Fortunately, 
yesterday  evening  Millicent  went  to  bed  at  five  o'clock, 
and  Mrs.  Cunningham  sat  with  me  all  the  evening,  and  her 
talk  did  me  a  great  deal  of  good." 

The  inquest  occupied  a  very  short  time,  the  only  point 
on  which  many  questions  were  asked  being  as  to  the  firing 
through  the  window.  Mark  stated  that  it  was  already  so 
dark  that  although  he  was  within  fifty  yards  of  the  man 
when  he  mounted  and  rode  off,  he  could  not  give  any  very 
distinct  description  of  his  figure.  It  struck  him  as  being 
that  of  a  man  of  medium  height. 

"  You  have  made  out  that  the  bullet  was  intended  for 
your  father?  " 


130  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"I  cannot  say  that,  sir,  it  went  between  his  head  and 
that  of  Mr.  Bastow,  but  it  might  have  been  meant  for 
either." 

"  Was  your  father  impressed  with  the  idea  that  it  was 
an  attempt  to  murder  him?  " 

"  He  naturally  thought  so.  Mr.  Bastow  can  assuredly 
have  no  enemies,  while  my  father,  as  a  magistrate,  may 
have  made  some.  He  certainly  thought  it  was  an  attempt 
to  murder  him,  and  was  so  impressed  by  the  fact  that 
when  we  went  to  the  library  later  on  he  went  into  certain 
family  matters  with  me  that  he  had  never  communicated 
before,  and  which,  had  it  not  been  for  this,  he  would  not 
have  entered  into  for  some  years  to  come." 

"  He  had  his  opinion,  then,  as  to  who  was  his  assail- 
ant?" 

"  He  had,  sir,  but  as  it  was  but  an  opinion,  although 
there  were  several  facts  that  seemed  to  justify  the  con- 
viction, there  was  no  proof  whatever,  and  therefore  I  do 
not  think  myself  justified  in  saying  what  that  opinion 
was." 

"  Do  you  entertain  the  same  opinion  yourself?  " 

"  I  do,"  Mark  said  emphatically;  "  but  until  I  can  obtain 
some  evidence  in  support  of  what  is  really  but  a  matter  of 
opinion,  and  because,  were  I  to  give  the  name,  it  would 
lessen  my  chance  of  obtaining  such  evidence,  I  decline  to 
mention  the  name." 

"  You  have  no  doubt  that  the  author  of  the  second 
attempt  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  first?  " 

"  Personally,  I  have  no  doubt  whatever;  it  stands  to  rea- 
son that  it  is  barely  possible  that  two  men  could  have, 
unknown  to  each  other,  made  up  their  minds  to  murder 
my  father  on  the  same  evening." 

The  constable's  evidence  added  nothing  to  that  given  by 
Mark.  He  had  been  down  to  the  lane  where  the  man  pur- 
sued had  mounted.  The  reins  of  the  horse  had  apparently 
been  thrown  over  a  gatepost,  and  he  thought  it  had  been 
standing  there  for  some  little  time,  for  there  were  marks 
where  it  had  scraped  the  ground  repeatedly.  He  had 
followed  the  marks  of  its  hoofs  for  some  distance;  if  had 
gone  at  a  gallop  for  about  half  a  mile,  and  then  the  pace 
had  slackened  into  a  trot.     It  continued  until  the  lane  fell 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  131 

into  the  main  road,  but  beyond  this  he  had  been  unable  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  marks  of  the  traffic  in  general. 

"  You  found  no  footprints  whatever  near  the  foot  of  the 
ladder,  or  anywhere  else  round  the  house?  " 

"  None  whatever,  sir." 

"  There  were  no  signs  of  any  other  window  or  door  save 
that  of  Mr.  Thorndyke's  room  being  attempted?  " 

"  None  at  all,  sir." 

There  was  but  a  short  consultation  between  the  jurors, 
who  at  once  returned  a  verdict  of  "  Willful  murder  by 
some  person  or  persons  unknown." 

Dr.  Holloway  had,  after  giving  evidence,  returned  at 
once  to  Mr.  Bastow's  room.  The  only  point  of  importance 
in  his  evidence  was  the  statement  that  the  wound  must 
have  been  fatal  at  once,  the  heart  itself  having  been  pene- 
trated. It  had  been  inflicted  by  a  dagger  or  a  narrow- 
bladed  knife. 

"  Do  you  mean  that  it  was  an  unusually  small  dagger, 
Dr.  Holloway?" 

"  I  should  say  it  was  a  very  fine  dagger;  not  the  sort  of 
weapon  that  you  would  expect  to  find  a  highwayman  carry, 
if  he  carried  one  at  all,  but  rather  a  weapon  of  Spanish  or 
Italian  manufacture." 

"  Not  the  sort  of  wound  that  a  rapier  would  make?  " 

"  Yes,  the  wound  itself  might  have  been  very  well  made 
by  a  light  rapier,  but  there  was  a  slight  bruise  on  the  flesh 
on  each  side  of  the  wound,  such  a  mark  as  might  be  made 
by  the  handle  or  guard  of  a  dagger,  and  sufficiently  plain 
to  leave  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  it  was  so  made." 

"  Had  the  wound  a  downward  course,  or  was  it  a  straight 
thrust?" 

"  A  straight  thrust,"  the  doctor  replied.  "  My  idea  is 
that  the  two  men  were  grappling  together,  and  that  as  Mr. 
Thorn  dyke  was  a  very  powerful  man,  his  assailant,  who 
probably  was  approaching  the  bed  with  the  dagger  in  his 
hand,  plunged  it  into  him:  had  he  struck  at  him  I  should 
certainly  have  expected  the  course  of  the  wound  to  be 
downward,  as  I  fancy  a  man  very  seldom  thrusts  straight 
with  a  dagger,  as  he  would  do  with  a  rapier." 

When  the  inquest  was  over,  Mark,  going  out  into  the 
hall,  found  the  doctor  waiting  there  for  him. 


132  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"  Mr.  Bastow  breathed  his  last  some  ten  minutes  ago. 
I  saw  when  I  went  up  to  him  just  before  I  gave  my  evi- 
dence that  it  was  likely  that  he  would  die  before  I  returned 
to  the  room." 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  Mark  said,  "  although  I  expected 
nothing  else  from  what  you  told  me.  He  was  a  very  kind- 
hearted  man;  no  one  could  have  had  a  kinder  or  more 
patient  tutor  than  he  was  to  me,  while  my  father  regarded 
him  as  a  very  dear  and  valued  friend.  I  am  expecting  the 
undertaker  here  in  a  few  minutes,  and  they  can  both  be 
buried  at  the  same  time." 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  Millicent  came  down 
with  Mrs.  Cunningham.  The  news  of  Mr.  Bastow' s  death 
had  set  her  tears  flowing  afresh;  she  had  been  very  fond  of 
him,  and  that  he  and  the  Squire  should  have  been  taken  at 
once  seemed  almost  beyond  belief.  She  had,  however, 
nerved  herself  to  some  degree  of  composure  before  she 
went  down  to  meet  Mark;  but  although  she  returned  the 
pressure  of  his  hand,  she  was  unable  for  some  time  to 
speak.  Mrs.  Cunningham  thought  it  best  to  speak  first  oi 
the  minor  grief. 

"  So  Mr.  Bastow  has  gone,  Mark?  " 

"  Yes,  Dr.  Holloway  thought  very  badly  of  him  yester- 
day, and  said  that  he  had  but  very  faint  hope  of  his  rally- 
ing. I  cannot  help  thinking  that  it  was  best  so.  Of 
course,  he  was  not  a  very  old  man,  but  he  has  for  some 
years  been  a  very  feeble  one,  and  now  that  Millicent  and  I 
have  both  given  up  our  studies  with  him,  I  think  that  he 
would  have  felt  that  his  work  was  done,  and  would  have 
gone  downhill  very  fast." 

"  I  think  so,  too,"  Mrs.  Cunningham  agreed.  "  I  am 
sure  that  even  had  the  Squire's  death  come  quietly,  in  the 
course  of  nature,  it  would  have  been  a  terrible  blow  to 
him.  He  was  fond  of  you  and  Millicent,  but  his  affection 
for  your  father  was  a  passion;  his  face  always  lit  up  when 
he  spoke  to  him.  I  used  to  think  sometimes  that  it  was 
like  an  old  dog  with  his  master.  It  was  quite  touching  to 
see  them  together.  I  think,  Mark,  with  you,  that  it  is 
best  that  it  should  be  as  it  is." 

Gradually  the  conversation  turned  to  other  matters. 
Millicent  was,  however,  unable  to  take  any  part  in  it,  and 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  133 

half  an  hour  later  she  held  out  her  hand  silently  to  Mark 
and  left  the  room  hurriedly.  The  next  day  she  was  better, 
and  was  able  to  walk  for  a  time  with  Mark  in  the  garden 
and  talk  more  calmly  about  their  mutual  loss,  for  to  her, 
no  less  than  to  Mark,  the  Squire  had  been  a  father. 

"  'Tis  strange  to  think  that  you  are  the  Squire  now, 
Mark,"  she  said  as  they  sat  together  in  the  dining  room  on 
the  evening  before  the  funeral. 

"  You  will  think  it  stranger  still,  Millicent,"  he  said, 
"  when  I  tell  you  that  I  am  not  the  Squire,  and  never  shall 
be." 

She  looked  up  in  his  face  with  wonder. 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Mark?  " 

"  Well,  dear,  you  will  know  to-morrow,  as  Mr.  Prender- 
gast,  one  of  the  family  solicitor  is  coming  down;  but  I 
think  it  is  as  well  to  tell  you  beforehand.  It  has  been  a 
curious  position  all  along.  I  never  knew  it  myself  till  my 
father  told  me  when  we  went  into  the  library  after  the 
shot  was  fired.  The  news  did  not  affect  me  one  way  or  the 
other,  although  it  surprised  me  a  great  deal.  Like  your- 
self, I  have  always  supposed  that  you  were  my  father's 
ward,  the  daughter  of  an  old  comrade  of  his  brother's. 
Well,  it  is  a  curious  story,  Millicent.  But  there  is  no 
occasion  for  you  to  look  frightened.  The  fact  is  you  are 
my  uncle's  daughter  and  my  cousin." 

"  Oh,  that  is  not  very  dreadful!  "  she  exclaimed  in  a 
tone  of  relief. 

"  Not  dreadful  at  all,"  Mark  said.  "  But  you  see  it 
involves  the  fact  that  you  are  mistress  of  this  estate,  and 
not  I." 

Millicent  stood  up  suddenly  with  a  little  cry. 

"  No,  no,  Mark,  it  cannot  be!  It  would  be  dreadful,  and 
I  won't  have  it.  Nothing  could  make  me  have  it.  What, 
to  take  the  estate  away  from  you  when  you  have  all  along 
supposed  it  to  be  yours!     How  could  I?  " 

"  But  you  see  it  never  has  been  mine,  my  dear.  Father 
might  have  lived  another  nve-and-twenty  years,  and  God 
knows  I  have  never  looked  forward  to  succeeding  him. 
Sit  down  and  let  me  tell  you  the  story.  It  was  not  my 
father's  fault  that  he  reigned  here  so  long  as  master;  it 
was  the  result  of  a  whim  of  your  father's.     And  although 


134  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

my  father  fought  against  it,  he  could  not  resist  the  dying 
prayer  of  my  uncle."  . 

He  then  related  the  whole  circumstances  under  which 
the  girl  had  heen  brought  up  as  Millicent  Conyers,  instead 
of  Millicent  Conyers  Thorndyke,  and  how  the  estate  had 
been  left  by  Colonel  Thorndyke's  will  to  his  brother  until 
such  time  as  Millicent  should  come  of  age,  or  marry,  and 
how  he  had  ordered  that  when  that  event  took  place  the 
rest  of  his  property  in  money  and  jewels  was  to  be  divided 
equally  between  Mark  and  herself. 

"  It  must  not  be,  Mark,"  she  said  firmly.  "  You  must 
take  the  estate,  and  we  can  divide  the  rest  between  us. 
What  is  the  rest?" 

"  To  begin  with,"  Mark  said  cheerfully,  "  there  are 
£25,000,  the  accumulations  of  the  rents  of  the  estate  after 
the  death  of  my  grandfather  up  to  the  time  when  the 
Colonel  returned  from  India;  and  there  are,  besides,  a  few 
thousands,  though  I  don't  exactly  know  how  many,  that 
my  father  paid  over  to  the  solicitors  as  the  surplus  of  the 
rents  of  the  estates  after  paying  all  expenses  of  keeping 
up  this  house.  He  very  properly  considered  that  although 
he  had  accepted  the  situation  at  your  father's  earnest 
wish,  he  ought  not  to  make  money  by  doing  so.  If  we  put 
it  down  at  £30,000  altogether,  you  see  there  is  £15,000  for 
each  of  us.  A  very  nice  sum  for  a  young  man  to  start  life 
with,  especially  as  I  shall  have  my  father's  estate  near 
Hastings,  which  brings  in  £500  a  year;  and  as  the  rents  of 
this  have  been  accumulating  for  the  last  ten  years,  my 
share  will  be  raised  from  £15,000  to  £20,000.  Besides 
this,  there  is  the  main  bulk  of  the  Colonel's  fortune  made 
in  India.  That  seems  to  be  worth  about  £100,000,  but  I 
must  own  that  the  chance  of  getting  it  seems  very  small." 

"How  is  that,  Mark?" 

Mark  told  her  the  whole  story. 

"  I  mean  to  make  it  my  business  to  follow  the  matter 
up,"  he  said.  "  I  think  that  the  chance  of  ever  finding 
it  is  very  small.  Still,  it  will  give  me  an  object  to  begin 
life  with." 

"  Oh,  I  hope  that  you  will  never  find  it!  "  she  exclaimed. 
"  From  what  you  say  it  will  be  a  terrible  danger  if  you  do 
get  it." 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  135 

Mark  smiled. 

"  I  hardly  think  so,  Millicent.  I  cannot  believe  that 
people  would  be  following  up  this  thing  for  over  fifteen 
years,  for  it  was  many  years  before  the  Colonel  came  home 
that  he  got  possession  of  these  diamonds.  Even  Hindoos 
would,  I  think,  have  got  sick  of  such  a  hopeless  affair  long 
before  this;  but  as  they  may  ever  since  your  father's  death 
have  been  watching  us,  although  it  hardly  seems  possible, 
I  shall  follow  out  the  Colonel's  instructions,  and  get  rid 
of  those  particular  diamonds  at  once.  I  shall  only  keep 
them  about  me  long  enough  to  take  them  to  Amsterdam, 
and  sell  them  there.  The  Colonel  said  they  were  the 
finest  diamonds  that  he  ever  saw,  and  that  he  really  had 
no  idea  of  what  they  were  worth.  However,  that  is  for 
the  future." 

"  Mrs.  Cunningham  has  known  this  all  along,  Mark  ?  " 

"  Not  about  the  money  affairs,  but  of  course  she  knew 
that  you  were  my  cousin.  She  brought  you  from  India, 
you  see,  and  has  known  all  along  that  the  Colonel  was 
your  father.  She  knows  it,  and  the  family  solicitors  know 
it,  but  I  believe  no  one  else,  except,  perhaps,  Eamoo.  I 
am  not  sure  whether  he  was  in  uncle's  service  when  you 
were  sent  over  in  Mrs.  Cunningham's  charge.  He  may 
know  it  or  he  may  not,  but  certainly  no  one  else  does, 
except,  as  I  say,  the  solicitors  and  myself.  Possibly  some 
other  of  the  Colonel's  old  comrades  knew  that  there  was  a 
child  born;  but  if  they  were  in  England  and  happened  to 
hear  that  my  father  had  succeeded  to  the  estate,  they 
would,  of  course,  suppose  that  the  child  had  died." 

"  Then,"  Millicent  said,  in  a  tone  of  relief,  "  there  can 
be  no  reason  why  anyone  else  should  know  anything  about 
it.  I  will  see  Mr.  Prendergast  when  he  comes  down  to- 
morrow, and  beg  him  to  say  nothing  about  it;  £15,000  is 
quite  enough  for  any  girl;  and  besides,  you  say  that  my 
father's  greatest  wish  was  tbat  I  was  not  to  be  married  for 
money,  and  after  all  the  pains  that  have  been  taken,  his 
wish  will  not  be  carried  out  if  I  am  to  be  made  owner  of 
the  estate." 

"  You  won't  be  able  to  persuade  Mr.  Prendergast  to  do 
that,"  Mark  said,  cmiling.  "  It  is  bis  duty  simply  to  carry 
out  the  provisions  of  your  father's  will,  and  to  place  you 


136  COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

in  possession  of  the  estate;  and  if  he  would  keep  silence, 
which  he  certainly  won't,  you  don't  suppose  that  I  would." 

"  Then  I  shall  hate  you,  Mark." 

"  I  don't  think  you  will,  Millicent,  and  I  would  rather 
that  you  did  that  than  that  you  should  despise  me.  At  the 
present  moment  you  may  think  that  this  estate  would  be 
only  a  burden  to  you,  but  some  day  when  you  marry  you 
might  see  the  matter  in  a  different  light." 

The  girl  looked  at  him  reproachfully. 

"I  should  never  think  so!"  she  burst  out.  "What 
would  you  have  me  do?  Live  here  in  this  great  house, 
with  only  Mrs.  Cunningham,  while  you  are  going  about  the 
world  seeking  for  this  treasure?     Never!  " 

"  No,  I  don't  think  that  it  would  be  nice  for  you  to  do 
that,  Millicent,"  Mark  said.  "  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  I 
have  been  talking  it  over.  We  thought  that  the  best  plan 
would  be  for  her  to  take  a  house  in  London,  and  go  there 
with  you;  you  would  have  the  advantages  of  good  masters. 
Then  you  were  saying  only  a  short  time  since  that  you 
would  like  to  learn  the  harp  and  take  lessons  in  painting. 
There  would  be  time  enough  to  think  about  what  you 
would  do  with  respect  to  this  house  afterward." 

"  It  is  all  horrible,"  Millicent  said,  bursting  into  tears, 
"  and  I  shall  always  feel  that  I  have  robbed  you." 

"  But  I  don't  feel  so  in  the  least,"  Mark  urged.  "  I  was 
not  in  the  smallest  degree  put  out  when  my  father  told 
me  about  it.  I  have  always  had  a  fancy  for  wandering 
about  the  world,  as  my  uncle  did,  and  doing  something  to 
distinguish  myself,  instead  of  settling  down  for  life  to  be 
a  country  magistrate  and  a  squire.  Of  course  it  came  as  a 
surprise,  but  I  can  assure  you  that  it  was  not  an  altogether 
unpleasant  one.  What  can  a  man  want  more  than  a  nice 
little  estate  of  £500  a  year  and  £20,000  in  money?  " 

"  It  is  all  very  well  to  say  that,  but  as  you  said  to  me 
just  now,  you  may  see  it  in  a  different  light  some  day." 
Then  she  sat  thinking  for  some  time.  "  At  any  rate," 
she  went  on  at  last,  "  I  don't  see  why  anyone  should  know 
about  it  now.  If  the  house  is  to  be  shut  up  and  you  are 
going  away,  why  need  anyone  know  anything  about  it? 
My  father's  wish  was  that  I  should  not  have  people  making 
love  to  me  just  because  I  was  an  heiress;  after  all  that  has 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  137 

been  done,  it  would  be  wicked  to  go  against  his  wishes.     I  • 
suppose  the  interest  of  this  £15,000  would  be  enough  for 
Mrs.    Cunningham    and    I    to    live    comfortably    on    in 
London? " 

"  Yes,"  Mark  said;  "  it  will,  at  5  per  cent.,  bring  in, 
£750  a  year." 

"  Then  I  shall  remain  Millicent  Conyers  to  the  world. 
There  is  nothing  to  prevent  that,  is  there  ? "  she  said 
almost  defiantly. 

"No,"  he  replied  thoughtfully.  "The  rents  of  this 
estate  might  accumulate.  I  suppose  the  solicitors  would 
see  after  that;  and  as  I  shall  be  away  it  will,  of  course, 
make  no  difference  to  me.  Were  I  to  stay  in  the  neighbor- 
hood I  could  not  consent  to  live  as  my  father  did,  in  a 
false  position;  but  even  then  I  might  give  out  that  the 
property  had  only  been  left  to  my  father  during  his  life- 
time, and  that  it  had  now  gone  elsewhere,  without  saying 
whom  it  had  gone  to.  However,  as  I  shall  be  away,  there 
will  be  no  occasion  even  for  that.  When  the  will  is  read 
there  will  be  no  one  present  but  ourselves,  and  I  don't  see 
why  its  contents  should  not  be  kept  a  secret  for  a  time;  at 
any  rate,  we  can  ask  Mr.  Prendergast's  opinion  upon  that 
subject." 

At  this  moment  Mrs.  Cunningham  coming  into  the 
room,  Millicent  ran  to  her  and  threw  her  arms  round  her 
neck. 

"  He  has  made  me  most  miserable,"  she  said.  "  I 
thought  I  could  not  have  been  more  miserable  than  I  was 
before  he  told  me  all  about  it." 

"  I  knew  that  he  was  going  to  do  so,  and  I  was  quite 
sure  that  you  would  not  be  pleased  at  the  news.  I  have  all 
along  thought  that  it  was  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  your 
father;  but  as  it  was  his  decision,  and  not  mine,  I  only  had 
to  carry  out  his  wishes." 

"  It  is  cruel,"  Millicent  sobbed.  "  I  don't  mean  it  is 
cruel  of  my  father;  of  course  he  could  not  have  known, 
and  he  thought  he  was  doing  the  best  thing  for  my  happi- 
ness, but  it  has  all  turned  out  wrong." 

"  For  the  present  you  may  think  so,  dear;  but  you  must 
remember  that  up  to  the  present  time  it  has  turned  out 
well.     I  know  that  your  uncle  did  not  like  it  at  first,  but  I 


138  COLONEL  THOBNDYKE'S  8ECBET- 

think  that  he  passed  ten  happy  years  here.  It  gave 
him  a  great  power  for  doing  good,  and  he  worthily  availed 
himself  of  it.  We  have  all  spent  a  happy  time;  he  was 
universally  liked  and  respected.  I  think  all  of  us  have 
benefited  by  it.  It  would  not  have  been  half  as  pleasant 
if  it  had  been  known  that  you,  my  child,  were  the  real 
owner  of  the  estate,  and  he  was  acting  merely  as  your 
guardian.  Let  us  hope  that  everything  will  turn  out  as 
well  in  future.  Colonel  Thorndyke  told  me  that  he  had 
left  a  considerable  sum  in  addition  to  the  estates,  and  that 
this  was  to  be  divided  between  you  and  Mark;  so  you  see 
your  cousin  will  not  go  out  into  the  world  a  beggar." 

"  It  is  most  of  it  lost,"  Millicent  said  with  an  hysterical 
laugh.  "  It  is  all  hidden  away,  and  no  one  can  find  it; 
everything  has  gone  wrong  together." 

"  Well,  I  think,  dear,  that  you  had  better  go  up  to  bed. 
I  will  go  with  you.  At  the  present  time  this,  of  course, 
has  come  upon  you  as  an  additional  shock.  I  would  gladly 
have  shielded  you  from  it  for  a  time  if  I  could  have  done 
so,  but  you  must  have  learned  it  to-morrow,  and  I  quite 
agree  with  Mark  that  is  was  better  that  he  should  tell  you 
this  evening.  I  sent  down  to  the  town  to-day  to  the  doc- 
tor's and  asked  him  to  send  me  up  a  soothing  draught, 
thinking  that  you  might  be  upset  by  the  news.  I  hope  by 
the  morning  you  will  be  able  to  look  at  matters  more 
calmly." 

Some  time  later  Mrs.  Cunningham  came  down  again. 

"  She  has  cried  herself  to  sleep,"  she  said.  "  She  is 
much  grieved  about  this  money  being  lost." 

"  It  is  annoying;  still  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  the 
Colonel  must  have  taken  some  such  precaution  to  prevent 
the  treasure  from  being  lost." 

"  One  would  certainly  think  so,"  Mrs.  Cunningham 
agreed;  "  the  Colonel  seemed  to  me  a  methodical  man.  I 
know  that  he  had  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most 
Ijarticular  men  in  the  service  as  to  all  petty  details.  His 
instructions  to  me  before  I  left  him  were  all  very  minute, 
and  he  gave  me  a  sealed  packet  which  he  told  me  contained 
instructions  and  a  copy  of  the  register  of  his  marriage  and 
of  Millicent's  birth,  and  he  said  that  in  case  of  his  death  I 
was  to  take  it  to  your  father.     He  said  that  there  was  a 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  139 

letter  inclosed  in  it  to  him,  and  also  a  copy  of  his  will. 
The  letter  was  directed  to  your  father,  and  not  to  me.  I 
handed  it  over  to  him  when  he  asked  me  to  come  here.  He 
told  me  afterwards  that  the  letter  contained  the  request 
that  his  brother  lived  to  make  personally  to  him — that  the 
child  should  be  brought  up  as  his  ward;  and  that  he  had 
Landed  the  certificates  to  a  lawyer,  who  had,  however,  re- 
ceived copies  of  them  from  the  Colonel  himself  before  he 
went  down  to  see  your  father.  So,  as  he  took  these  pre- 
cautions to  insure  his  wishes  being  carried  out  in  the  event 
of  his  sudden  death,  I  should  think  that  he  must  have 
done  something  of  the  sort  with  regard  to  this  treasure." 

"  I  should  think  that  extremely  likely,  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham. I  certainly  had  not  thought  of  that  before,  and  I 
hope  that  for  Millieent's  sake  and  my  own  it  may  turn  out 
to  be  so.  I  can  get  on  extremely  well  without  it,  but  at 
the  same  time  I  don't  pretend  that  £50,000  are  to  be 
despised." 

The  next  morning  Mr.  Prendergast,  who  had  arrived  at 
Eeigate  late  the  evening  before,  and  had  put  up  at  an  inn, 
came  up  to  the  house  an  hour  before  the  time  named  for 
the  funeral.  He  learned  from  Mark  that  he  had  already 
acquainted  Millicent  with  her  change  of  circumstances.  A 
few  minutes  after  he  arrived,  a  servant  told  him  that  Miss 
Conyers  would  be  glad  if  he  would  see  her  alone  for  a  few 
minutes  in  the  drawing  room.  Mark  had  already  pre- 
pared him  for  her  request. 

"  Mark  has  told  you  that  he  told  me  about  this  hateful 
thing  last  night,  I  suppose,  Mr.  Prendergast?  " 

"  He  has,"  the  old  lawyer  said  kindly;  "  and  he  tells  me 
also  that  you  are  not  at  all  pleased  at  the  news." 

"Pleased!  I  should  think  not,  Mr.  Prendergast,"  she 
said  indignantly.  "  I  am  not  going  to  rob  my  cousin  of 
what  he  has  always  been  taught  to  think  as  his  inherit- 
ance.    It  is  abominable,  I  call  it,  and  most  unnatural." 

"  But,  my  dear  young  lady,  it  is  yours,  and  not  his.  I 
do  not  wish  to  discuss  whether  the  arrangement  was  nlto- 
gether  a  wise  one,  but  I  think  that  so  far  it  has  turned  out 
v.  ( •!!  for  all  parties.  Your  estate  has  profited  greatly  by 
nanagement  of  your  uncle,  the  tenants  and  all  con- 
v     ■■ '}  with  it  have  benefited  greatly,  he  himself  has  had 


140  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

active  employment  afforded  him,  of  which  he  was  fond. 
Your  cousin  has,  I  believe,  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the 
position,  and  has  become  acquainted  with  the  best  people 
in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  will  now  obtain  the  benefit 
of  something  like  £15,000 — a  comfortable  little  sum, 
especially  as  he  inherits,  I  believe,  his  father's  property 
in  Sussex.  You  yourself  will  have  obtained  what  I  cannot 
but  consider  the  advantage  of  having  been  brought  up 
without  knowing  that  you  were  an  heiress,  and  therefore 
without  being  spoiled,  which  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  case 
with  many  young  ladies  in  such  a  condition;  therefore  I 
cannot  but  think  that,  if  unwise  in  its  conception,  the 
matter  has  so  far  worked  out  well.  I  am  bound  to  say 
that  Mr.  Mark  Thorndyke  has  been  speaking  to  me  very 
handsomely  on  the  subject,  and  that  he  appears  in  no  way 
disappointed  at  finding  that  you  are  the  heiress  of  the 
estate,  and  is  really  concerned  only  at  your  unwillingness 
to  accept  the  situation." 

"  I  wanted  to  know,  Mr.  Prendergast,"  she  said,  but  in  a 
tone  that  showed  she  was  convinced  by  his  manner  that 
her  request  would  be  refused,  "  if  you  could  arrange  so 
that  things  would  not  be  disturbed,  and  he  should  come 
into  possession  as  his  father's  heir  in  the  natural  way." 

"  But  you  see  he  is  not  his  father's  heir,  Miss  Thorn- 
dyke.  His  father  only  had  the  use,  as  we  call  it,  of  the 
property  until  you  came  of  age,  or  marriage;  it  was  not 
necessary  for  it  to  come  to  you  on  your  coming  of  age,  but 
only,  as  your  father  explained  to  me,  in  the  event  of  your 
marriage;  that  is  to  say,  it  was  not  to  become  public  that 
you  were  entitled  to  the  estate  until  your  marriage.  If  you 
married  before  you  were  twenty-one  the  property  was 
then  to  come  to  you.  If  you  did  not  your  were  to  be 
informed  of  the  circumstances  or  not,  as  Mr.  Thorndyke 
might  decide  was  best,  but  you  were  not  to  come  into  the 
property  until  you  married.  Your  cousin  was  also  to  be 
informed  when  you  came  to  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  as 
at  that  time  he  was  to  take  his  half-share  of  the  remain- 
der of  the  property,  he  would  then  be  able  to  arrange  his 
life  as  he  liked.  If  your  uncle  died,  as  unfortunately  he 
has  done,  before  you  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one,  you 
would  then  be  placed  in  your  proper  position;  but  your 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  141 

father  desired  us  to  say  te  you  that  it  was  his  wish,  that  if 
it  could  be  arranged,  your  having  succeeded  to  the  owner- 
ship should  not  be  publicly  known  until  you  divulged  it  to 
your  husband  after  marriage.  The  other  portions  of  the 
will  must  be  carried  out.  This  being  only  a  request,  you 
are  at  liberty  to  follow  it  or  not  as  you  may  choose." 

"  Certainly  I  should  choose,"  the  girl  said.  "  After  all 
this  trouble  to  prevent  my  being  run  after  as  an  heiress, 
it  would  be  wicked  to  upset  it  all  and  to  fly  in  the  face  of 
his  wishes  by  setting  up  as  mistress  of  this  estate.  Still 
you  understand,  Mr.  Prendergast,  that  I  don't  mean  to 
take  it." 

The  lawyer  smiled  indulgently. 

"  There  is  one  way  in  which  it  might  be  managed,"  he 
said.     "  Perhaps  you  can  guess  what  it  is  ?  " 

A  flush  of  color  rose  over  the  girl's  face. 

"  Don't  say  it,  I  beg  of  you,  .Mr.  Prendergast.  Mrs. 
Cunningham  hinted  at  it  this  morning,  and  I  told  her  that 
my  own  wish  entirely  agreed  with  that  of  my  father,  and 
that  I  was  determined  not  to  be  married  for  money;  and  I 
am  quite  sure  that  Mark  would  be  as  unwilling  as  I  am 
that  the  estate  should  change  hands  in  that  way.  No,  Mr. 
Prendergast,  you  must  find  some  other  way  of  doing  it 
than  that.  Surely  an  estate  cannot  be  forced  upon  any- 
one who  is  determined  not  to  take  it." 

"  Well,  we  must  think  it  over,"  Mr.  Prendergast  said 
quietly.  "  And  now  I  think  that  it  is  time  for  me  to  join 
the  others." 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  funeral  of  Squire  Thorndyke  and  Mr.  Bastow 
was  over,  and  all  agreed  they  had  never  seen  a  more  affect- 
ing spectacle  than  that  at  the  churchyard  when  the  two 
coffins  were  Drought  in.  The  distance  was  short,  and  the 
tenants  had  requested  leave  to  carry  the  Squire's  bier, 
while  that  of  Mr.  Bastow  was  borne  by  the  villagers  who 
had  known  and  loved  him.  Behind  followed  all  the  magis- 
trates and  a  great  number  of  the  gentry  for  miles  round; 
the  churchyard  was  crowded  by  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  in  the  village,  and  the  women,  as  well  as  many  of  the 
men,  wept  unrestrainedly  as  the  coffins  passed  by.  Besides 
these,  a  large  number  of  people  from  Reigate  and  the 
surrounding  villages  were  present,  attracted  rather  by  the 
crime  that  had  caused  the  death  than  by  the  loss  of  the 
Squire  himself.  The  church  was  crowded,  and  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  Mr.  Greg  read  the  service.  The  Squire  was 
laid  by  the  <ude  of  his  father,  Mr.  Bastow  in  the  spot  where 
many  of  his  predecessors  had  slept  before  him. 

Mark  had  been  greatly  affected,  not  only  by  his  own  loss, 
but  by  the  sight  of  the  general  grief  among  those  for 
whom  the  Squire  had  done  so  much.  Even  Mr.  Prender- 
gast,  who  had  taken  part  in  many  such  functions  over 
departed  clients,  was  much  moved  by  the  scene. 

"  I  have  been  at  many  funerals/'  he  said  to  Mark  as  they 
walked  back  to  the  Hall,  "  but  I  never  have  been  at  one 
that  so  affected  me.  No  monument  ever  raised,  sir,  did 
such  credit  to  him  who  was  laid  beneath  it  as  the  tears  of 
those  simple  villagers." 

Mark  did  not  reply;  his  heart  was  altogether  too  full  to 
speak.  As  they  entered  the  house  he  said,  "  The  ladies 
will  have  their  lunch  upstairs,  Mr.  Prendergast;  we  may  as 
well  have  ours  at  once,  and  then  you  can  call  them  down  if 
there  is  any  business  to  be  done/' 

"  That  will  not  take  long,"  the  lawyer  said.     "  I  have 

142 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  143 

brought  down  the  wills  of  both  your  uncle  the  Colonel,  and 
your  father,  and  I  think  that  it  would  be  as  well  for  me  to 
read  them  both.  That  of  your  father  is  a  very  short  and 
simple  document,  extending,  indeed,  only  over  a  few  lines. 
Your  uncle's  is  longer  and  more  complicated,  but  as  you 
are  well  aware  of  the  gist  of  it,  it  will  take  us  but  a  short 
time  to  get  through  it." 

Mark  took  his  meal  in  a  perfunctory  manner.  For  him- 
self he  would  have  eaten  nothing,  but  he  made  an  effort  to 
do  so  in  order  to  keep  his  guest  company.  When  it  was 
over  he  said: 

"  We  may  as  well  go  into  the  library  at  once,  and  I  will 
send  up  for  the  ladies.  It  is  as  well  to  lose  no  time,  for  I 
know  that  you  want  to  catch  the  afternoon  coach  up  to 
town." 

Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Millicent  joined  them  in  a  min- 
ute or  two,  the  girl  looking  very  pale  in  her  deep  mourn- 
ing. 

"  I  am  about,"  Mr.  Prendergast  said  quietly,  "  to  read 
the  wills  of  Colonel  Thorndyke  and  Mr.  John  Thorndyke, 
and  I  will  ask  you,  if  there  is  any  phrase  that  you  do  not 
understand,  to  stop  me,  and  I  will  explain  to  you  its  pur- 
port." 

The  three  persons  present  were  acquainted  with  the 
main  provisions  of  the  Colonel's  will.  It  began  by  stating 
that,  being  determined  that  his  daughter,  Millicent  Con- 
yers  Thorndyke,  should  not  be  married  for  her  money,  he 
hereby  bequeathed  to  his  brother,  John  Thorndyke,  his 
estate  in  the  parish  of  Crowswood,  to  be  held  by  him  until 
his  daughter  Millicent  came  to  the  age  of  twenty-one,  or 
was  married;  if  that  marriage  did  not  take  place  until  she 
was  over  the  age  of  twenty-one,  so  long  was  it  to  continue 
in  John  Thorndyke's  possession,  save  and  except  that  she 
was,  on  attaining  the  age  of  twenty-one,  to  receive  from  it 
an  income  of  £250  a  year  for  her  private  use  and  disposal. 

"  To  Jane  Cunningham,  the  widow  of  the  late  Captain 
Charles  Cunningham,  of  the  10th  Madras  Native  Infantry, 
should  she  remain  with  my  daughter  until  the  marriage  of 
the  latter,  I  bequeath  an  annuity  of  £150  per  annum, 
chargeable  on  the  estate,  and  to  commence  at  my  daugh- 
ter's marriage.     All  my  other  property  in  moneys,  invest- 


144  COLONEL   THORNDYKE' 8  SECRET. 

ments,  jewels,  and  chattels  of  all  sorts,  is  to  be  divided  in 
equal  portions  between  my  daughter,  Millicent  Conyers 
Thorndyke,  and  my  nephew,  Mark  Thorndyke.  Should, 
however,  my  daughter  die  before  marriage,  I  bequeath  the 
said  estate  in  the  parish  of  Crowswood  to  my  brother, 
John  Thorndyke,  for  his  life,  and  after  him  to  his  son 
Mark,  and  to  the  latter  the  whole  of  my  other  property  of 
all  kinds,  this  to  take  effect  on  the  death  of  my  daughter. 
Should  my  brother  predecease  the  marriage  or  coming  of 
age  of  my  daughter,  she  is  at  once  to  come  into  possession 
of  the  said  estate  of  Crowswood.  In  which  case  my 
nephew  Mark  and  Mr.  James  Prendergast,  of  the  firm  of 
Hopwood  &  Prendergast,  my  solicitors,  are  to  act  as  her 
trustees,  and  Mrs.  Jane  Cunningham  and  the  said  James 
Prendergast  as  her  guardians." 

All  this  was,  of  course,  expressed  in  the  usual  legal 
language,  but  the  purport  was  clear  to  those  previously 
acquainted  with  its  bearing,  the  only  item  that  was  new  to 
them  being  the  legacy  to  Mrs.  Cunningham.  John  Thorn- 
dyke's  testament  was  a  short  one.  He  left  all  his  prop- 
erty to  his  son  Mark,  with  the  exception  of  a  hundred 
pounds  to  his  niece  to  buy  a  mourning  ring  or  brooch  or 
other  ornament  in  memory  of  him,  and  fifty  pounds  to 
Mrs.  Cunningham  for  a  similar  purpose,  as  a  token  of  his 
great  esteem  for  her  character,  and  £200  to  Eamoo  for  his 
faithful  services  to  his  brother  and  himself. 

When  the  lawyer  had  folded  up  the  wills  Millicent  said: 

"  On  my  part,  I  have  to  say  that  I  absolutely  renounce 
the  legacy  of  the  estate  in  favor  of  my  cousin  Mark,  who 
has  always  believed  that  it  would  be  his." 

"  And  I  as  absolutely  refuse  to  accept  the  sacrifice," 
Mark  said. 

"  My  dear  young  lady,"  Mr.  Prendergast  said  quietly, 
"  at  present,  at  any  rate,  you  have  no  power  whatever  to 
take  any  action  in  the  matter;  you  are,  in  the  eye  of  the 
law,  an  infant,  and  until  you  come  of  age  you  have  no 
power  to  execute  any  legal  document  whatever.  There- 
fore you  must  perforce  remain  mistress  of  the  estate  until 
you  attain  the  age  of  twenty-one.  Many  things  may 
happen  before  that  time;  for  example,  you  might  marry, 
and  in  that  case  your  husband  would  have  a  voice  in  the 


COLONEL   THOBNDTKE'S  SECRET.  145 

matter;  you  might  die,  in  which  case  Mr.  Mark  Thorndyke 
would,  without  any  effort  on  your  part,  come  into  posses- 
sion of  the  estate.  But,  at  any  rate,  until  you  reach  the 
age  of  twenty-one  your  trustees  will  collect  the  rents  of 
the  estate  on  your  behalf,  and  will  hold  the  monies  in  trust 
for  you,  making,  of  course,  such  payments  for  your  sup- 
port and  maintenance  as  are  fit  and  proper  for  your  con- 
dition." 

The  tears  came  into  Millicent's  eyes  as  she  resumed  the 
seat  from  which  she  had  risen,  and  she  did  not  utter 
another  word  until  Mr.  Pendergast  rose  to  leave. 

"  I  shall  doubtless  learn  your  wishes  as  to  the  future, 
Miss  Thorndyke,  from  your  cousin,"  he  said.  "  I  hope 
that  you  will  not  cherish  any  malice  against  me,  and  that 
when  you  think  it  over  you  will  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  second  thoughts  are  sometimes  the  wisest,  and  also 
that  you  should  have  some  consideration  for  your  father's 
wishes  in  a  matter  of  this  kind..  He  worked  hard  and 
risked  his  life  to  build  up  the  fortune  that  he  has  left. 
He  evidently  thought  greatly  of  your  welfare,  and  was, 
above  all  things,  anxious  to  insure  your  happiness.  I  am 
sure  that  on  thinking  it  over  you  will  see  that  you  should 
not  thwart  his  wishes." 

"  My  dear  boy,"  he  said  to  Mark,  as  they  stood  on  the 
doorstep  waiting  for  the  carriage  to  come  round,  "  the 
best  plan  by  far  in  this  business  would  be  for  the  interests 
of  your  cousin  and  yourself  to  be  identical.  She  is  a  very 
charming  young  lady,  a  little  headstrong  in  this  matter, 
perhaps,  but  I  do  not  think  that  that  is  altogether  un- 
natural." 

"  That  might  have  come  about  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
property,  Mr.  Prendergast,"  Mark  said,  "  but  it  cannot  be 
now.  If  she  and  I  had  been  engaged  before  all  this  hap- 
pened the  case  would  have  been  different;  but  you  see 
yourself  that  now  my  lips  are  sealed,  for  it  would  seem  as 
if  I  had  not  cared  for  her  until  she  turned  out  to  be  an 
heiress." 

"  You  are  a  silly  young  couple,"  the  lawyer  said.  "  I 
can  only  hope  that  as  you  grow  older  you  will-  grow  wiser. 
Well,  you  had  better  come  up  and  have  a  talk  with  me 
about  the  assets  your  uncle  mentions  in  his  will." 


146  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"  Then  you  don't  know  anything  about  them,  sir?  " 

"  Nothing  at  all,  except  as  to  the  accumulations  in  his 
absence.  He  mentioned  vaguely  that  he  was  a  wealthy 
man.  I  thought  that,  as  a  matter  of  course,  he  had  told 
his  brother  all  about  it." 

"  It  is  a  curious  business,  sir,  and  I  doubt  if  there  will 
ever  be  anything  besides  the  accumulations  you  speak  of ." 

"Bless  me,  you  don't  say  so!  Well,  well,  I  always 
thought  that  it  was  the  most  foolish  business  that  I  ever 
heard  of.  However,  you  shall  tell  me  all  about  it  when 
you  come  up.     I  shall  miss  my  coach  unless  I  start." 

So  saying,  he  shook  Mark's  hand,  took  his  place  in  the 
gig,  and  was  driven  away.  Millicent  did  not  come  down- 
stairs again  that  day. 

"  She  is  thoroughly  upset,"  Mrs.  Cunningham  said, 
"  and  it  would  be  best  to  let  her  have  her  own  way  for  a 
time.  I  think  the  sooner  I  can  get  her  away  from  here 
the  better.  The  house  is  full  of  sad  memories,  and  I 
myself  feel  shaken  and  in  need  of  a  change." 

"  I  can  quite  understand  her  feeling  and  yours,  Mrs. 
Cunningham.  I  do  hope  you  will  be  able  to  disabuse  her 
mind  of  the  idea  that  I  have  any  shadow  of  feeling  of  re- 
gret that  she  instead  of  I  has  the  estate,  and  please  try  to 
work  upon  her  on  the  ground  of  her  father's  wishes.  I 
could  see  that  her  face  changed  when  Mr.  Prendergast  put 
the  matter  in  that  light,  which  I  do  not  think  had  oc- 
curred to  her  before.  I  am  thinking  of  going  up  to  town 
in  a  couple  of  days;  I  was  thinking  of  doing  so  to-morrow, 
but  a  day  or  so  will  make  no  difference.  I  propose  that  }rou 
both  go  with  me,  and  that  I  then  help  you  look  for  a  house. 
Even  if  you  don't  get  one  at  once,  a  week  in  London  will 
be  a  change,  and  you  can  then,  if  you  like,  go  somewhere, 
for  a  time.  Of  course  Bath  would  be  too  gay  at  present; 
but  you  might  go  to  Tunbridge  Wells,  or,  if  she  would  like 
a  seaside  place,  as  she  has  never  been  near  the  sea  since 
she  was  a  baby,  that  would  be  the  greatest  change  for  her. 
You  might  go  down  for  a  month  or  two  to  Dover  or  Has- 
tings. There  is  no  occasion  for  you  to  settle  down  in  Lon- 
don for  a  time.  There  is  Weymouth,  too,  if  you  would 
like  it  better.  I  believe  that  that  is  a  cheerful  place  with- 
out  being  too  fashionable." 


COLONEL   THORFDYKE'S  SECRET.  147 

"  I  think  that  will  be  an  excellent  plan/'  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham r-aid. 

"  If  you  like  I  will  drive  you  up  to  town,  and  the  lug- 
gage can  go  by  the  carrier;  it  is  more  pleasant  than  being 
shut  up  in  a  coach." 

"  Much  more  cheerful,  of  course." 

"  You  will,  of  course,  leave  many  of  your  things  here, 
and  the  packing  them  up  will  give  her  something  to  do, 
and  prevent  her  from  brooding." 

"  I  think  that  is  an  excellent  idea,  Mark." 

Late  in  the  afternoon  Ramoo  came  in  in  his  usual  silent 
manner.  The  man  had  said  but  little  during  the  past  few 
days,  but  it  was  evident  that  he  was  grieving  deeply,  and 
he  looked  years  older  than  he  had  done  before  that  fatal 
night. 

"  Of  course,  Ramoo,  you  will  stay  with  me  for  the  pres- 
ent. I  hardly  know  what  I  shall  be  doing  for  a  time,  but 
I  am  sure  that  until  I  settle  down,  Miss  Conyers  will  be 
very  glad  to  have  you  with  her." 

"  No,  sahib,  Ramoo  will  return  home  to  India.  Ramoo 
is  getting  old;  he  was  thirty  when  he  entered  the  service 
of  the  Colonel,  sahib;  he  is  fifty  now;  he  will  go  home  to 
end  his  days;  he  has  saved  enough  to  live  in  comfort,  and 
with  what  the  lawyer  sahib  told  him  your  father  has  left 
him  he  will  be  a  rich  man  among  his  own  people." 

"  But  you  will  find  things  changed,  Ramoo,  since  you 
left;  while  here,  you  know,  we  all  regard  you  as  a  friend 
rather  than  as  a  servant." 

"  You  are  all  very  kind  and  good,  sahib.  Ramoo  knows 
that  he  will  meet  no  friends  like  those  he  has  here,  but  he 
longs  for  the  bright  sun  and  blue  sky  of  India,  and 
tbough  it  will  well-nigh  break  his  heart  to  leave  the  young 
missic  and  you,  he  feels  that  he  must  go." 

"  All  right,  Ramoo.  We  shall  all  be  very  sorry  to  lose 
you,  but  I  understand  your  longing  to  go  home,  and  I 
know  that  you  always  feel  our  cold  winters  very  trying; 
therefore  I  will  not  oppose  your  wishes.  I  shall  be  going 
up  to  town  in  two  or  three  days,  and  will  arrange  to  pay 
your  legacy  at  once,  and  will  inquire  what  vessels  are 
sailing." 

Millicent  was  unfeignedly  sorry  when  she  heard  of 


148  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

Eamoo's  determination;  she  was  very  fond  of  him,  for 
when  as  a  child  she  first  arrived  at  Crowswood  he  had 
been  her  companion  whenever  the  Squire  did  not  require 
his  services,  and  would  accompany  her  about  the  garden 
and  grounds,  listening  to  her  prattle,  carrying  her  on  his 
shoulder,  and  obeying  her  behests.  No  doubt  he  knew 
that  she  was  the  daughter  of  his  former  master,  and  had 
to  a  certaint  extent  transferred  his  allegiance  from  the 
sahib,  whose  life  he  had  several  times  saved,  to  his  little 
daughter.  Still,  she  agreed  with  Mark  that  it  was  perhaps 
best  that  he  should  go.  She  and  Mrs.  Cunningham  would 
find  but  little  occasion  for  his  services  when  established  in 
London,  and  his  swarthy  complexion  and  semi-Eastern 
costume  would  attract  attention,  and  perhaps  trouble, 
when  he  went  abroad — the  population  being  less  accus- 
tomed to  Orientals  then  than  at  present — but  still  less 
would  they  know  what  to  do  with  him  were  they  for  a 
time  to  wander  about.  Mark  said  at  once  that  so  long  as 
he  himself  was  engaged  in  the  task  that  he  had  set  himself, 
he  could  not  take  Eamoo  with  him,  and  as  for  his  staying 
alone  in  the  house  when  it  was  only  in  charge  of  a  care- 
taker, it  was  not  to  be  thought  of. 

Although  not  inclined  at  the  present  time  to  agree  with 
Mark  in  anything,  Millicent  could  not  but  acknowledge 
that  it  were  best  that  Eamoo  should  not  be  urged  further 
to  reconsider  his  determination,  and  she  also  fell  in  with 
his  proposal  that  they  should  go  up  to  London  for  a  week, 
and  then  go  down  to  Weymouth  for  a  time,  after  which 
they  would  be  guided  by  circumstances. 

Accordingly,  two  days  later,  Mark  drove  Millicent  and 
Mrs.  Cunningham  up  to  London.  A  groom  accompanied 
them  on  Mark's  favorite  horse.  This  was  to  be  left  in 
town  for  his  use,  and  the  groom  was  to  drive  the  carriage 
back  again.  Comfortable  rooms  were  obtained  in  a  quiet 
inn  for  the  ladies,  while  Mark  put  up  at  the  Bull,  saying 
that  he  would  come  every  day  to  take  them  out. 

"Why  did  not  Mark  stay  here,  Mrs.  Cunningham? " 
Millicent  asked  pettishly. 

"  I  suppose  he  thought  it  better  that  he  should  not  do 
so;  and  I  own  that  I  think  he  was  right." 

"  When  we  were,  as  we  supposed,  no  relation  to  each 


COLONEL   TEOBNDTEE'S  SECRET.  149 

other/'  Millicent  said,  "we  could  be  like  brother  and 
sister.  Now  that  we  find  that  we  are  cousins  we  are  going 
to  be  stiff  and  ceremonious." 

"  Not  necessarily  because  you  are  cousins,  Millicent. 
Before,  you  were  his  father's  ward,  and  under  his  father's 
care;  now  you  are  a  young  lady  on  your  own  account.  You 
must  see  that  the  position  is  changed  greatly,  and  that 
what  was  quite  right  and  proper  before  would  not  be  at  all 
right  and  proper  now." 

Millicent  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  Oh,  if  Mark  wishes  to  be  distant  and  stiff  he  can 
certainlv  do  so  if  he  likes  it.  It  makes  no  matter  to 
me." 

"  That  is  not  at  all  fair,  Millicent,  and  very  unlike  your- 
self. Had  not  Mark  suggested  his  going  to  another  inn,  I 
should  have  suggested  it  myself." 

"Oh,  yes;. no  doubt  it  is  better,"  Millicent  said  care- 
lessly. "  He  has  several  friends  in  town,  and  of  course  we 
cannot  expect  him  to  be  devoting  himself  to  us." 

Mrs.  Cunningham  raised  her  eyebrows  slightly,  but 
made  no  answer.  Millicent  was  seldom  wayward,  but  at 
present  things  had  gone  very  hardly  with  her,  and  her 
friend  felt  that  it  would  be  better  to  leave  her  entirely  to 
herself  until  her  humor  changed.  In  the  morning, 
.  when  Mark  came  round,  Millicent  announced  that  she  felt 
tired  with  the  drive  of  the  previous  clay,  and  would  prefer 
staying  indoors.  Mark  looked  a  little  surprised,  more  at 
the  tone  than  at  the  substance  of  the  words,  for  the  man- 
ner in  which  she  spoke  showed  that  the  excuse  she  had 
given  was  not  her  only  reason  for  not  going  out. 

"  Of  course,  I  shall  stay  at  home  too,"  Mrs.  Cunningham 
said  quietly,  as  he  glanced  toward  her  inquiringly.  "  Milli- 
cent i.s  unnerved  and  shaken,  and  perhaps  it  is  just  as  well 
for  her  to  have  a  day's  complete  rest." 

"  Very  well,  Mrs.  Cunningham;  then  I  will,  as  I  cannot 
be  of  any  use  to  you,  set  about  my  own  business  for  the 
day.  1  have  already  been  round  to  the  lawyer's,  and 
have  got  a  check  for  Ramoo's  legacy.  He  will  be  up  this 
afternoon,  and  I  will  go  round  to  Leadenhall  Street  and 
find  out  what  ships  are  sailing  and  when  they  start.  I 
will  come  in  this  evening  for  a  chat." 


150  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

Millicent  sat  without  speaking  for  some  minutes,  after 
he  had  left  the  room.  Mrs.  Cunningham,  whose  hands 
were  always  busy,  took  some  work  out  of  a  bag  and  set  to 
work  at  it  industriously.     Presently  the  girl  said: 

"  What  business  is  this  that  Mark  is  going  to  occupy 
himself  in?  " 

"  I  do  not  know  much  about  it,"  she  replied.  "  But 
from  a  few  words  which  he  let  drop  I  believe  that  he 
intends  to  devote  himself  to  discovering  and  hunting  down 
your  uncle's  murderer." 

The  listless  expression  faded  out  at  once  of  Millicent'g 
face. 

"  But  surely,  Mrs.  Cunningham,  that  will  be  very 
dangerous  work." 

"  No  doubt  it  will  be  dangerous  work,  but  I  don't  think 
that  that  is  likely  to  hinder  Mark.  The  man,  whoever  he 
may  be,  is  of  course  a  desperate  character,  and  not  likely. 
to  be  captured  without  making  a  fierce  struggle  for  it." 

"  Then  he  ought  to  put  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  the 
proper  authorities,"  Millicent  said  decidedly.  "  Of 
course  such  men  are  dangerous.  Very  likely  this  man 
may  have  accomplices,  and  it  is  not  against  one  only  that 
Mark  will  have  to  fight.  He  has  no  right  to  risk  his  life 
in  so  desperate  an  adventure." 

Mrs.  Cunningham  smiled  quietly  over  her  work.  The 
Squire  had  often  confided  to  her  how  glad  he  would  be  if 
these  two  should  some  day  come  together.  In  that  case 
the  disclosure  after  marriage  of  the  real  facts  of  the  case 
would  cause  no  disturbance  or  difficulty.  The  estate 
would  be  theirs,  and  it  would  not  matter  which  had 
brought  it  into  the  partnership;  she  had  thoroughly 
agreed  with  him,  but  so  far  nothing  had  occurred  to  give 
any  ground  for  the  belief  that  their  hopes  would  be  ful- 
filled. 

Till  within  the  last  year  Millicent  had  been  little  more 
than  a  child;  she  had  looked  up  to  Mark  as  she  might  have 
done  to  a  big  brother,  as  something  most  admirable,  as  one 
whose  dictum  was  law.  During  the  last  year  there  had 
been  some  slight  change,  but  more,  perhaps,  on  Mark's 
part  than  on  hers.  He  had  consulted  her  wishes  more, 
had  asked  instead  of  ordered,  and  had  begun  to  treat  her 


COLONEL  THOHNDYKE'S  SECRET  151 

as  if  conscious  that  she  was  fast  growing  up  into  woman- 
hood. 

Millicent  herself  scarcely  seemed  to  have  noticed  this 
change.  She  was  little  more  inclined  to  assert  herself 
than  before,  but  was  ready  to  accompany  him  whenever  he 
wished  her  to  do  so,  or  to  see  him  go  away  without  com- 
plaint, when  it  so  pleased  him;  but  the  last  week  had  made 
a  rapid  change  in  their  position.  Millicent  had  sprung 
almost  at  a  bound  into  a  young  woman.  She  had  come  to 
think  and  resolve  for  herself;  she  was  becoming  wayward 
and  fanciful;  she  no  longer  deferred  to  Mark's  opinion, 
but  held  her  own,  and  was  capable  of  being  vexed  at  his 
decisions.  At  any  rate,  her  relations  with  Mark  had 
changed  rapidly,  and  Mrs.  Cunningham  considered  this 
little  outburst  of  pettishness  to  be  a  good  omen  for  her 
hopes,  and  very  much  better  than  if  they  had  continued 
on  their  old  footing  of  affectionate  cousins. 

Mark  went  back  again  to  the  lawyer's,  and  had  a  long 
talk  with  Mr.  Prendergast  over  the  lost  treasure.  The  old 
lawyer  scoffed  at  the  idea  that  there  could  be  any  danger 
associated  with  the  bracelet. 

"  Men  in  India,  I  suppose,  get  fanciful,"  he  said,  "  and 
imbibe  some  of  the  native  superstitions.  The  soldier  who 
got  them  from  the  man  who  stole  them  was  stabbed.  He 
might  have  been  stabbed  for  a  thousand  reasons,  but  he 
had  the  bracelet  on  his  mind.  He  was  forever  hiding  it 
and  digging  it  up,  and  fancying  that  someone  was  on 
his  track,  and  he  put  down  the  attack  as  being  made  by 
someone  connected  with  it.  His  manner  impressed  your 
uncle.  He  concealed  the  diamonds  or  sent  them  off  some- 
where, instantly.  He  never  had  any  further  trouble  about 
them,  but  like  many  men  who  have  a  craze,  fancied  that 
he  was  being  perpetually  watched  and  followed.  The 
unfortunate  result  of  all  this  is  that  these  jewels  and  the 
money  that  he  accumulated  during  his  service  in  India 
seem  to  be  lost.     A  more  stupid  affair  I  never  heard  of. 

"  Now,  as  to  the  clew,  any  reasonable  man  would  have 
given  full  instructions  as  to  how  the  treasure  was  to  be 
found;  or  if  he  did  not  do  that,  would,  at  least,  instead  of 
carrying  about  an  absurd  coin  and  a  scrap  of  paper  with  a 
name  upon  it,  have  written  his  instructions  and  put  them 


152  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

in  that  ridiculous  hiding-place,  or,  more  wisely  still,  would 
have  instructed  his  solicitor  fully  on  the  subject.  The 
amount  of  trouble  given  by  men,  otherwise  perfectly  sane, 
by  cranks  and  fancies  is  astonishing.  Here  is  something 
like  £100,000  lost  owing  to  a  superstitious  whim.  As  to 
your  chance  of  finding  the  treasure,  I  regard  it  as  small 
indeed.  The  things  are  hidden  in  India,  in  some  old  tomb, 
or  other  rubbishing  place.  Your  uncle  may  have  com- 
mitted them  to  the  charge  of  a  native;  he  may  have  sent 
them  to  a  banker  at  one  of  the  great  towns;  he  may  have 
shipped  them  to  England.  He  may  have  sent  them  to  the 
North  Pole  for  anything  I  know.  How  can  one  begin  to 
search  the  universe?  " 

"  I  thought,  sir,  that  perhaps  he  might  have  sent  them 
to  some  London  Bank  or  agent,  with  instructions  to  hold 
them  until  claimed  by  him,  and  that  perhaps  an  inquiry 
among  such  houses  would  lead  to  the  discovery  that  they 
hold  certain  property  forwarded  by  him." 

"  Well,  there  is  some  sense  in  that  suggestion,"  Prender- 
gast  grumbled,  "  and  I  suppose  the  first  thing  to  be  done 
will  be  to  carry  that  out.  If  you  wish,  we  will  do  it  for 
you.  They  would  be  more  likely  to  give  the  information, 
if  they  possess  it,  to  a  well-known  firm  of  solicitors  like 
ourselves  than  to  any  private  individual.  Besides,  if  you 
were  to  go  yourself,  they  would  in  each  case  want  you  to 
be  identified  before  they  would  answer  any  question, 
whereas  I  should  write  a  note  to  them  in  the  firm's  name, 
with  our  compliments,  saying  that  we  should  be  glad  to 
know  if  the  late  Colonel  Thorndyke,  of  whose  will  we  are 
the  executors,  had  any  account  at  their  firm  or  has  de- 
posited any  property  in  their  hands.  There  are  not  above 
five  of  six  banks  doing  business  with  India,  and  as  many 
agents  in  a  large  way  of  business;  and  if  he  did  such  a 
foolish  thing,  he  would  be  certain  to  do  it  with  some 
houses  of  good  standing — if,  indeed,  anything  can  be  taken 
as  certain  in  the  case  of  a  gentleman  with  such  extraordi- 
nary fancies  and  plans  as  his." 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Prendergast,"  Mark  said,  with  a  slight 
smile  at  the  lawyer's  irritability;  "  that  will  be  clearing 
the  ground  to  a  certain  extent.  If  that  does  not  succeed, 
I  think  I  shall  go  to  India  myself,  and  shall  there  make 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  153 

similar  inquiries  at  all  the  principal  establishments  at 
Calcutta  and  Madras.  Should  I  fail  there,  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  only  remaining  plan  will  be  to  find  out  from  the 
military  authorities  the  place  where  my  uncle's  regiment 
was  encamped  on  the  day — we  have  the  date  on  which  the 
jewels  were  given  to  him — and  to  institute  a  minute  search 
of  all  the  old  ruins  within  such  a  distance  as  he  might  have 
reached  within  a  day's  ride." 

"  But  you  have  no  certainty  that  it  was  a  ruin.  He 
might  have  dug  a  hole  under  his  tent  and  have  buried  the 
tilings  there;  he  might  have  taken  a  shovel  and  buried 
them  in  a  clump  of  bushes  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away.  The 
thing  is  more  and  more  ridiculous  the  more  you  look 
at  it." 

"  I  see  it  is  very  difficult,  sir,  but  one  might  narrow  it 
down  somewhat  if  one  discovered  the  spot.  Probably 
there  are  still  native  officers  in  the  regiment  who  were 
there  at  the  time.  If  so,  they  might  possibly  know  who 
was  my  uncle's  servant  at  the  time.  The  man  may  be  a 
pensioner,  and  in  that  case  I  might  discover  his  address 
through  the  military  authorities,  and  I  could  find  out 
from  him  whether  my  uncle  often  rode  out  at  night,  what 
were  his  habits,  and  possibly  where  the  tent  stood,  and 
so  on." 

"  Well,"  Mr.  Prendergast  said,  "  if  you  like  to  under- 
take a  wild-goose  chase  of  this  sort  it  is  your  business,  and 
not  mine;  but  I  consider  the  idea  is  the  most  Utopian  that 
I  ever  heard  of.  As  to  where  the  tent  stood,  is  it  likely 
that  a  man  would  remember  to  within  a  hundred  yards 
where  a  tent  stood  fourteen  years  ago?  Why,  you  might 
dig  up  acres  and  acres  of  ground  and  not  be  sure  then 
that  you  had  hit  upon  the  right  place." 

"  There  is  one  other  circumstance,  Mr.  Prendergast," 
Mark  said  quietly,  "that  has  to  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion, and  which  renders  it  improbable  that  these  diamonds 
were  hidden  anywhere  by  my  uncle  himself  at  that  time. 
He  certainly  spoke  of  the  whole  of  this  treasure  collec- 
tively. It  is  morally  certain  that  he  would  not  carry  all 
these  jewels  that  he  had  been  collecting  about  with  him, 
and  certainly  not  his  treasure  in  money.  He  must,  there- 
fore, have  sent  these  diamonds  to  the  person,  whoever  he 


154  COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

may  be,  who  had  the  keeping  of  his  other  jewels  and  of  his 
money..    This  certainly  points  to  a  bank." 

"  There  is  a  sensible  conjecture.  Yes,  there  is  something 
in  that.  He  certainly  could  not  have  carried  about  him 
£50,000  in  gold  and  as  much  in  jewelry;  it  would  have 
been  the  act  of  a  madman,  and  Colonel  Thorndyke, 
although  eccentric  and  cranky,  was  not  mad.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  may  have  carried  about  a  banker's  pass- 
book, or  what  is  equivalent  to  it,  for  the  amount  that  had 
been  deposited  with  a  native  banker  or  agent,  together 
with  a  receipt  for  the  box  containing  the  jewels,  and  this 
he  might  have  hidden  with  the  diamonds." 

"  I  don't  think  that  he  would  have  done  that;  there 
could  have  been  no  object  for  his  putting  the  power  of 
demanding  his  money  and  v  aluables  out  of  his  possession." 

"  Well,  well,"  the  lawyer  said  testily,  "  it  is  of  no  use 
arguing  now  what  he  might  or  might  not  have  done.  A 
man  who  would  have  taken  the  trouble  that  he  did  to  pre- 
vent his  daughter  knowing  that  she  was  an  heiress,  and 
fancied  that  he  was  followed  about  by  black  fellows, 
might  do  anything,  reasonable  or  unreasonable,  under  the 
sun.  At  any  rate,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  I  will  carry  out  your 
instructions  as  to  inquiries  in  London,  and  will  duly  in- 
form you  of  the  result;  beyond  that  I  must  really  decline 
to  give  any  advice  or  opinion  upon  the  matter,  which  is 
altogether  beyond  me." 

On  leaving  the  lawyer's,  Mark  went  to  Bow  Street,  and 
related  to  the  chief  the  circumstances  attending  his 
father's  murder. 

"  I  have  heard  them  from  the  man  I  sent  down  at  your 
request,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  and  taking  the  attempt  early  in 
the  evening  and  the  subsequent  murder,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  affair  was  one  of  revenge,  and  not  of 
robbery.  Had  the  second  attempt  stood  alone,  robbery 
might  have  been  the  object;  the  mere  fact  that  nothing 
was  stolen  in  no  way  alters  the  case.  Men  are  often 
seized  with  a  certain  panic  after  committing  a  murder,  and 
fry  at  once  without  attempting  to  carry  out  their  original 
purpose.  Your  father,  no  doubt,  fell  heavily,  and  the  man 
might  well  have  feared  that  the  fall  would  be  heard;  but 
the  previous  attempt  precludes  the  supposition  that  rob- 


COLONEL  TIIORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  155 

bery  was  at  the  bottom  of  it.  It  points  to  a  case  of 
revenge,  and  certainly  goes  a  very  long  way  to  support  the 
theory  that  we  talked  over  when  I  last  saw  you,  that  the 
highwayman  who  endeavored  to  stop  you  on  the  road, 
whom  you  wounded,  and  who  afterwards  went  down'  to 
Southampton,  was  the  escaped  convict,  Bastow.  Since 
that  time  I  have  had  a  man  making  inquiries  along  the 
roads  between  Reigate  and  Kingston,  but  altogether  with- 
out success.  I  should  be  glad  to  follow  up  any  other  line 
that  you  might  suggest,  and  that  might  offer  any  reason- 
able possibility  of  success,  but  I  must  own  that  at  present 
we  are  entirely  off  the  scent." 

"  I  am  thinking  of  devoting  myself  entirely  to  the 
quest.  I  have  no  occupation  at  present.  •  I  have  an  income 
amply  sufficient  for  my  wants,  and  for  all  expenses  that  I 
may  incur,  and  I  intend  to  devote,  if  necessary,  some 
years  of  my  life  to  hunting  this  man  down.  As  your  men 
have  searched  without  success  in  the  country,  I  think  for 
the  present  my  best  plan  will  be  to  devote  myself  to  learn- 
ing something  of  the  ways  and  haunts  of  the  criminal 
classes  of  London,  and  it  is  with  that  object  that  I  have 
come  to  you  now.  I  should  like,  for  some  time,  at  any 
rate,  to  enter  the  detective  force  as  an  enrolled  member. 
I  should,  of  course,  require  no  pay,  but  should  be  prepared 
to  obey  all  orders  and  to  do  any  work  required,  as  any 
other  member  of  the  corps  would  do.  I  am  strong,  active, 
and  have,  I  hope,  a  fair  share  of  intelligence.  I  should 
not  mind  risking  my  life  in  carrying  out  any  duty  that 
you  might  assign  to  me.  I  presume  that  I  need  not  always 
be  on  duty,  and  could,  when  not  required,  employ  my  time 
as  I  liked,  and  keep  up  my  acquaintances  in  town.  Should 
it  be  otherwise,  however,  I  am  perfectly  ready  to  submit 
myself  in  all  respects  to  your  rule.  I  have  a  first-rate 
horse  and  should  be  available  for  country  duty,  wherever 
you  might  think  fit  to  send  me.  1  should  not  desire  any 
•  list  inction  to  be  made  between  me  and  the  paid  officers." 

'*  Your  proposal  is  an  altogether  novel  one,  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke,  but  it  is  worthy  of  consideration.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  you  would  make  a  very  useful  officer;  the  work  is 
certainly  interesting,  though  not  without  serious  hazards. 
However,  I  will  think  the  matter  over,  and  if  you  will  call 


156  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

in  to-morrow  you  shall  have  my  answer.  We  are  always 
glad  to  have  a  new  hand  in  the  force,  for  the  faces  of  our 
men  are  so  well-known  among  the  criminal  class  that  they 
are  liable  to  be  detected  even  under  the  cleverest  disguises. 
There  is  work,  too,  upon  which  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
that  a  gentleman  should  be  employed,  and  in  the  event  of 
your  joining  us,  I  should  wish  you  to  keep  the  matter 
strictly  from  all  your  acquaintances;  and  it  would  cer- 
tainly be  advantageous  that  you  should,  when  disengaged, 
continue  to  mix  with  your  friends  and  to  mingle  in  society 
of  all  kinds  as  freely  as  possible.  There  is  crime  among 
the  upper  classes  as  well  as  among  the  lower,  though  of  a 
different  type;  and  as  Mr.  Thorndyke  of  Crowswood  you 
would  have  far  better  opportunities  of  investigating  some 
of  these  cases  than  any  of  my  men  would  have.  You 
would  not  object  to  take  up  such  cases?  " 

"  Not  at  all,  sir;  that  is,  if  it  could  be  arranged  that  I 
should  not  do  the  actual  work  of  making  an  arrest,  or  have 
to  appear  in  court  as  a  witness." 

"  That  could  be  managed,"  the  chief  said.  "  When  you 
have  got  to  a  certain  point  the  matter  of  the  final  arrest 
could  always  be  handed  over  to  someone  else,  but  as  a  rule 
we  keep  our  officers  in  the  background  as  much  as  possible, 
because  at  every  trial  the  court  is  half-full  of  men  of  the 
criminal  class,  and  the  faces  of  our  men  would  soon  be 
known  to  every  one  of  them.  Well,  if  you  will  call  about 
ten  o'clock  to-morrow  you  shall  have  my  answer;  but  I 
should  advise  you  to  think  the  matter  well  over  before  you 
see  me  again.  The  responsibilities  as  well  as  the  dangers 
are  great,  and  indeed  in  some  of  the  work  you  would 
literally  have  to  carry  your  life  in  your  hand;  and  I 
can  assure  you  that  the  task  you  would  undertake  is  by  no 
means  a  light  one." 


CHAPTEB  XI. 

Mark  called  that  evening,  as  he  had  promised,  upon 
Mrs.  Cunningham. 

"  I  hope  that  you  feel  all  the  better  for  your  day's  rest, 
Millicent,"  he  said. 

The  girl  looked  quickly  at  him  to  see  if  there  was  any 
sarcasm  in  the  question,but  it  was  evident  that  the  inquiry 
was  made  in  earnest. 

"  Yes,  I  feel  better  now,"  she  'said.  "  I  have  dozed  a 
good  deal  to-day.  I  did  not  feel  up  to  anything.  Mrs. 
Cunningham's  work  has  progressed  wonderfully.  I 
should  say  that  she  has  done  more  to-day  than  she 
ordinarily  finds  time  to  do  in  a  week.  What  have  you 
been  doing  with  yourself?  " 

"  I  have  been  having  a  long  talk  with  Mr.  Prendergast 
about  the  lost  treasure." 

"  And  of  course  he  said  that  you  would  never  find  it, 
Mark?" 

"  Well,  yes,  he  distinctly  expressed  that  opinion." 

"And  afterwards?" 

"  Afterwards  I  went  to  Bow  Street  and  had  a  long  talk 
also  with  the  chief  officer  there." 

"  I  don't  like  the  idea  of  your  searching  for  this  man, 
Mark.  In  the  first  place,  I  don't  see  why  you  should  hope 
to  succeed  when  the  men  whose  business  it  is  to  do  such 
work  have  failed.  In  the  next  place,  I  think  that  you  may 
get  into  serious  danger." 

"  That  I  must  risk,  Millicent.  I  have  already  proved 
a  better  shot  than  he  is,  and  I  am  quite  ready  to  take  my 
chance  if  I  can  but  come  upon  him;  that  is  the  difficult 
part  of  the  matter.  I  know  that  I  shall  need  patience, 
but  I  have  plenty  of  time  before  me,  and  have  great  hopes 
that  I  shall  run  him  to  earth  at  last." 

"  But  vou  would  not  know  him  if  you  saw  him?  " 

157 


158  COLONEL    THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"  I  think  I  should,"  Mark  said  quietly;  "  at  least,  if  he 
is  the  man  that  I  suspect." 

"Then  you  do  suspect  someone?"  Mrs.  Cunningham 
said,  laying  down  her  work. 

"  Yes,  I  know  of  no  reason  why  you  should  not  know  it 
now.  I  suspect — indeed,  I  feel  morally  certain — that  the 
man  who  murdered  my  father  was  Arthur  Bastow." 

An  exclamation  of  surprise  broke  from  both  his  hearers, 
and  they  listened  with  horror  while  he  detailed  the  various 
grounds  that  he  had  for  his  suspicions.  They  were  silent 
for  some  time  after  he  had  brought  his  narrative  to  a 
conclusion,  then  Mrs.  Cunningham  said: 

"  What  a  merciful  release  for  Mr.  Bastow  that  he  should 
have  died  before  this  terrible  thing  came  out!  For  after 
what  you  have  told  us  I  can  hardly  doubt  that  you  are 
right,  and  that  it  is  this  wicked  man  who  is  guilty." 

"  Yes,  it  was  indeed  providental,"  Mark  said,  "  though 
I  think  that,  feeble  as  he  has  been  for  some  months,  it 
might  have  been  kept  from  him.  Still,  a  word  from  a 
chance  visitor,  who  did  not  associate  Bastow  the  murderer 
with  our  dear  old  friend,  might  have  enlightened  him, 
and  the  blow  would  have  been  a  terrible  one  indeed.  It  is 
true  that,  as  it  was,  he  died  from  the  shock,  but  he  did 
not  know  the  hand  that  struck  the  blow." 

"  Now  that  you  have  told  me  this,"  Millicent  said,  "  I 
cannot  blame  you,  Mark,  for  determining  to  hunt  the  man 
down.  It  seems  even  worse  than  it  did  before;  it  is  awful 
to  think  that  anyone  could  cherish  revenge  like  that. 
Now  tell  me  how  you  are  going  to  set  about  it." 

"  I  have  promised  the  chief  officer  that  I  will  tell 
absolutely  no  one,"  he  said.  "  I  have  a  plan,  and  I  believe 
that  in  time  it  must  be  successful.  I  know  well  enough 
that  I  could  tell  you  both  of  it  without  any  fear  of  its 
going  further,  but  he  asked  me  to  promise,  and  I  did  so 
without  reservation;  moreover,  I  think  that  for  some 
reasons  it  is  as  well  that  even  you  should  not  know  it.  As 
it  is,  you  are  aware  that  I  am  going  to  try,  and  that  is  all. 
If  I  were  to  tell  you  how,  you  might  be  picturing  all  sorts 
of  imaginary  dangers  and  wording  yourself  over  it,  so  I 
think  that  it  will  be  much  the  best  that  you  should  remain 
in  ignorance,  at  any  rate  for  a  time.     I  can  say  this,  that  I 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  159 

shall  for  the  present  remain  principally  in  London,  and  I 
think  that  I  am  more  likely  to  come  upon  a  clew  here  than 
elsewhere." 

Millicent  pouted,  but  Mrs.  Cunningham  said: 

"  I  think,  perhaps,  that  you  are  right,  Mark,  and  it  is 
better  that  we  should  know  nothing  about  it;  we  shall 
know  that  you  are  looking  for  a  clew,  but  of  course  no 
danger  can  arise  until  you  obtain  it  and  attempt  to  arrest 
him.  I  feel  sure  that  you  will  do  nothing  rash,  especially 
as  if  any  harm  befell  you  he  might  escape  unpunished,  and 
therefore  that  when  the  time  comes  to  seize  him  you  will 
obtain  such  help  as  may  be  necessary,  and  will,  if  possible, 
arrest  him  at  a  moment  when  resistance  is  impossible." 

"  Thank  you,  Mrs.  Cunningham;  I  shall  certainly  spare 
no  efforts  in  taking  him  that  way,  and  would  far  rather 
he  met  his  fate  on  a  gibbet  than  by  a  bullet  from  my 
pistol." 

"  I  agree  with  you,  Mark,"  Millicent  said;  "  even  hang- 
ing is  too  good  for  such  a  wicked  man.  When  are  you 
going  to  set  about  it?  " 

"  I  hope  to  be  able  to  begin  to-morrow,"  he  said.  "  I 
am  impatient  to  be  at  work,  even  though  I  know  perfectly 
well  that  it  may  be  months  before  I  can  get  on  his  track. 
I  hope  to  get  a  good  deal  of  information  as  to  the  habits 
of  men  of  his  kind  from  the  Bow  Street  runners,  and  I 
have  an  appointment  to-morrow  morning  to  see  their 
chief,  who  will  give  me  every  assistance  in  his  power." 

"  Then  you  will  not  be  able  to  take  us  out?  "  Millicent 
said. 

"  I  trust  to  do  so  later  on,  but  I  cannot  say  how  long  I 
shall  be  engaged.  However,  I  hope  to  get  away  so  as  to 
go  out  with  you  after  lunch,  and  may  possibly  be  able  to 
postpone  my  getting  regularly  to  work  until  after  you 
have  gone,  so  as  to  be  able  to  devote  myself  to  your 
service." 

"  But  what  sort  of  work?  I  cannot  make  out  how  you 
are  going  to  begin." 

"  I  can  tell  you  this  much,  that  to  begin  with  I  shall  go 
in  company  with  a  constable  to  various  places  where  such 
a  man  is  likely  to  be  found.  It  will  take  some  time  to 
acquaint  myself  with  all  these  localities;  the  next  step 


160  COLONEL   THOBNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

will  be  to  find  out,  if  possible,  if  anyone  at  all  answering 
to  his  description  is  in  the  habit  of  coming  there  occasion- 
ally, and  whom  he  visits;  another  thing  will  be  to  find  out 
the  places  where  receivers  of  stolen  goods  do  their  busi- 
ness, and  to  watch  those  with  whom  highwaymen  are 
suspected  of  having  dealings.  All  this,  you  see,  will  entail 
a  lot  of  work,  and  require  a  very  large  amount  of  patience. 
Of  course,  if  nothing  whatever  comes  of  such  inquiries,  I 
shall  have  to  try  quiet  places  in  the  suburbs;  you  must 
remember  that  this  fellow  during  his  time  as  a  convict 
must  have  had  opportunities  of  getting  a  vast  amount  of 
information  likely  to  be  useful  to  him,  such  as  the  ad- 
dresses of  men  holding  positions  of  apparent  respecta- 
bility, and  yet  in  alliance  with  thieves.  You  may  be  sure 
that  when  he  returned  he  took  every  imaginable  pains  to 
obtain  a  safe  place  of  concealment  before  he  began  his 
work;  my  own  opinion  is  that  I  am  more  likely  to  find  him 
living  quietly  in  a  suburban  cottage  than  in  a  London 
slum." 

Millicent  was  now  thoroughly  interested  in  the  search. 

"  It  seems  a  great  business,  Mark,  but  going  into  it  as 
thoroughly  as  you  are  doing  I  feel  sure  that  you  will 
succeed.  I  only  wish  that  I  could  help  you;  but  I  could 
not   do  that,  could  I?  "  she  asked  wistfully. 

He  saw  that  she  was  in  earnest,  and  suppressed  all 
semblance  of  a  smile. 

"  I  am  afraid,  dear,  that  you  would  be  a  much  greater 
source  of  embarrassment  than  of  assistance  to  me,"  he 
said  gravely.  "  This  is  essentially  not  a  woman's  work. 
I  believe  that  women  are  sometimes  employed  in  the 
detection  of  what  we  may  call  domestic  crimes,  but  this  is 
a  different  matter  altogether." 

"  I  suppose  so,"  she  sighed;  "  but  it  will  be  very  hard  to 
be  taking  our  ease  down  at  Weymouth  while  we  know  that 
3^ou  are,  day  after  day,  wearing  yourself  out  in  tramping 
about  making  inquiries." 

"  It  will  be  no  more  fatiguing  than  tramping  through 
the  stubble  round  Crows  wood  after  partridges,  which  I 
should  probably  be  doing  now  if  I  were  down  there.  By 
the  way,  before  you  go  we  shall  have  to  talk  over  the 
question  of  shutting  up  the  house.     We  had  too  much  to 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  161 

think  of  to  go  into  that  before  we  came  away,  and  I  sup- 
pose I  shall  have  to  run  down  and  arrange  it  all,  if  you 
have  quite  made  up  your  mind  that  you  don't  mean  to 
return  for  a  year  or  two." 

"  Decidedly  our  present  idea  is  to  have  a  few  weeks  at 
Weymouth,  and  then  when  we  feel  braced  up  to  come 
back  here  and  look  for  a  house.  Where  are  you  likely  to 
be,  Mark  ?  "  Mrs.  Cunningham  asked. 

"  I  shall  consult  with  Dick  Chetwynd;  he  knows  the 
town  thoroughly,  and  is  more  up  here  than  he  is  down  in 
the  country;  he  will  recommend  me  to  some  lodging  in  a 
street  that,  without  being  the  height  of  fashion,  is  at  least 
passable.  I  have  not  the  least  wish  to  become  a  regular 
man  about  town,  but  I  should  like  to  go  into  good  society. 
One  cannot  be  at  work  incessantly." 

The  next  morning  the  chief  of  the  detective  department 
told  Mark  that  he  had  decided  to  accept  his  offer. 

"  As  you  will  receive  no  pay,"  he  said,  "  I  shall  regard 
you  as  a  sort  of  volunteer.  For  the  first  two  or  three 
months  you  will  spend  your  time  in  going  about  with  one 
or  other  of  my  men  on  his  work.  They  will  be  able  to 
put  you  up  to  disguises.  When  you  have  once  learned  to 
know  all  the  thieves'  quarters  and  the  most  notorious 
receivers  of  stolen  goods,  you  will  be  able  to  go  about 
your  work  on  your  own  account.  All  that  I  require  is 
that  you  shall  report  yourself  here  twice  a  day.  Should  I 
have  on  hand  any  business  for  which  you  may  appear  to 
me  particularly  well  suited,  I  shall  request  you  to  at  once 
undertake  it,  and  from  time  to  time,  when  there  is  a 
good  deal  of  business  on  hand,  I  may  get  you  to  aid  one 
of  my  men  who  may  require  an  assistant  in  the  job  on 
which  he  is  engaged." 

"  I  am  sure  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  sir,"  Mark 
said,  "  and  will,  I  can  assure  you,  do  my  best  in  every  way 
to  assist  your  men  in  any  business  in  which  they  may  be 
en<ra<?ed." 

"  When  will  you  begin?  " 

"  It  is  Saturday  to-day,  sir.  I  think  I  will  postpone 
Bel  iing  to  until  Monday  week.  My  cousin  and  the  lady  in 
whose  charge  she  is  came  up  with  me  on  Thursday,  and 
will  be  leaving  town  the  end  of  next  week,  and  I  should 


162  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

wish  to  escort  them  about  while  here.  I  will  come  on 
Monday  morning  ready  for  work.  How  had  I  better  be 
dressed?  " 

"  I  should  say  as  a  countryman.  A  convenient  charac- 
ter for  you  to  begin  with  will  be  that  of  a  man  who,  having 
got  into  a  poaching  fray,  and  hurt  a  gamekeeper,  has 
made  for  London  as  the  best  hiding-place.  You  are  quite 
uncertain  about  your  future  movements,  but  you  are 
thinking  of  enlisting." 

"  Very  well,  sir,  I  will  get  the  constable  at  Eeigate, 
who  knows  me  well,  to  send  me  a  suit.  I  might  find  it 
difficult  to  get  all  the  things  I  want  here." 

Accordingly,  for  the  next  week  Mark  devoted  himself  to 
the  ladies.  Millicent,  in  her  interest  in  the  work  that  he 
was  about  to  undertake,  had  now  quite  got  over  her  fit 
of  ill-temper,  and  the  old  cordial  relations  were  renewed. 
On  the  Friday  he  saw  them  into  the  Weymouth  coach,  then 
sauntered  off  to  his  friend  Chetwynd's  lodgings. 

Eamoo  had-*' already  sailed.  On  his  arrival  in  town  he 
had  said  that  he  should,  if  possible,  arrange  to  go  out  as  a 
steward.  "  Many  men  of  my  color  who  have  come  over 
here  with  their  masters  go  back  in  that  way,"  he  said,  in 
answer  to  Mark's  remonstrances.  "  It  is  much  more  com- 
fortable that  way  than  as  a  passenger.  If  you  go  third- 
class,  rough  fellows  laugh  and  mock;  if  you  go  second- 
class,  men  look  as  much  as  to  say,  '  What  is  that  colored 
fellow  doing  here?  This  is  no  place  for  him.'  Much  bet- 
ter go  as  steward;  not  very  hard  work;  very  comfortable; 
plenty  to  eat;  no  one  laugh  or  make  fun." 

"  Well,  perhaps  it  would  be  best,  when  one  comes  to 
think  of  it,  Eamoo;  but  I  would  gladly  pay  your  passage 
in  any  class  you  like." 

"  Eamoo  go  his  own  way,  sahib,"  he  said.  "  No  pay 
passage  money;  me  go  to  docks  where  boats  are  sailing,  go 
on  board  and  see  head  steward.  Head  steward  glad 
enough  to  take  good  servant  who  is  willing  to  work  his 
way  out,  and  ask  for  no  wrages.  Head  steward  draw  wTages 
for  him,  and  put  wages  in  his  own  pocket.  He  very  well 
satisfied." 

On  Wednesday  he  came  and  told  Mark  that  he  had 
arranged  to  sail  in  the  Nabob,  and  was  to  go  on  board 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  163 

early  the  next  morning.  He  seemed  a  great  deal  affected, 
and  Mark  and  Millicent  were  equally  sorry  to  part  with  the 
faithful  fellow. 

"  Well,  old  man,"  Dick  Chetwynd  said,  when  Mark 
entered  the  room,  where  he  was  still  at  breakfast,  "  I  was 
beginning  to  wonder  whether  you  had  gone  to  Eeigate. 
Why,  when  I  saw  you  last  Friday  you  told  me  that  you 
would  look  me  up  in  a  day  or  two." 

"  I  have  been  busy  showing  London  to  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham and  Miss  Conyers,"  he  replied — for  Millicent  had 
insisted  on  keeping  her  former  name,  at  any  rate  for  the 
present — and  Mark  was  somewhat  glad  that  there  had 
been  no  necessity  for  entering  into  any  explanations.  It 
was  agreed  that  when  he  went  down  to  discharge  some  of 
the  servants  and  called  upon  his  friends  he  should  say 
nothing  of  the  change  in  his  position,  but  should  assign  as 
a  motive  that  he  intended  to  travel  about  for  a  long  time, 
and  that  he  felt  he  could  not  settle  down  in  the  lonely 
house,  at  any  rate  for  two  or  three  years,  and  therefore 
intended  to  diminish  the  establishment. 

"  You  will  have  some  breakfast,  Mark  ?  " 

"  No,  thank  you.     I  breakfasted  two  hours  ago." 

"  Then  you  still  keep  to  your  intention  to  stay  in 
London  for  a  while  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  don't  feel  that  I  could  bear  the  house  alone," 
Mark  replied.  "  You  see,  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  my 
uncle's  ward  could  not  very  well  remain  in  a  bachelor's 
home,  and  naturally,  after  what  has  happened,  they  would 
not  like  to  do  so,  even  if  they  could.  They  have  gone 
down  to  Weymouth  for  a  few  weeks  for  a  complete  change; 
and  Mrs.  Cunningham  talks  of  taking  a  house  in  town  for 
a  time.  I  am  going  to  look  for  lodgings,  and  I  want  your 
advice  as  to  the  quarter  likely  to  suit  me." 

"  Why  not  take  up  your  abode  here  for  a  time?  There 
is  a  vacant  room,  and  I  should  be  very  glad  to  have  you 
with  me." 

"  Thank  you  very  much,  Dick,  but  I  should  prefer  being 
alone.  You  will  have  friends  dropping  in  to  see  you,  and 
at  present  I  should  be  poor  company.  It  will  be  some 
little  time  before  I  shall  feel  equal  to  society." 

"  Of  course,  Mark.     I  always  speak  first  and  think  after- 


164  COLONEL  THORNDTEE'S  SECRET. 

wards,  as  you  know  pretty  well  by  this  time.  Well,  what 
sort  of  lodgings  do  you  want?  " 

"  I  want  them  to  be  in  a  good  but  not  in  a  thoroughly 
fashionable  street.  In  time,  no  doubt,  I  shall  like  a  little 
society,  and  shall  get  you  to  introduce  me  to  some  of 
the  quieter  of  your  friends,  and  so  gradually  feel  my 
way." 

"  I  will  do  all  that  sort  of  thing  for  you,  Mark.  As 
you  know,  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  see  much  fun  in 
gambling  or  drinking,  though  one  must  play  a  little  to  be 
in  the  fashion.  Still,  I  never  go  heavily  into  it.  I  risk  a 
few  guineas  and  then  leave  it.  My  own  inclinations  lie 
rather  towards  sport,  and  in  this  I  can  indulge  without 
being  out  of  the  fashion.  All  the  tip-top  people  now 
patronize  the  ring,  and  I  do  so  in  my  small  way  too.  I  am 
on  good  terms  with  all  the  principal  prizefighters,  and 
put  on  the  gloves  with  one  or  other  of  them  pretty  nearly 
every  day.  I  have  taken  courses  of  lessons  regularly  from 
four  or  five  of  them,  and  I  can  tell  you  that  I  can  hold  my 
own  with  most  of  the  Corinthians.  It  is  a  grand  sport, 
anl  I  don't  know  how  I  should  get  on  without  it;  after  the 
hard  exercise  I  was  accustomed  to  down  in  the  country,  it 
keeps  one's  muscles  in  splendid  order,  and  I  can  tell  you 
that  if  one  happens  to  get  into  a  fight  in  the  streets,  it  is 
no  light  thing  to  be  able  to  polish  off  an  antagonist  in  a 
round  or  two  without  getting  a  mark  on  your  face  that 
Avould  keep  you  a  prisoner  in  your  room  for  a  week  or 
more." 

"  Yes,  I  should  like  very  much  to  take  lessons  too,  DicK; 
it  is  one  of  the  things  that  I  have  always  wished  to  do.  I 
suppose  one  can  do  it  of  an  evening,  or  any  time  you 
like?" 

"  Yes,  any  hour  suits  those  fellows.  You  ought  to  get 
either  a  heavy  middleweight  or  a  light  heavyweight;  you 
will  be  a  heavyweight  yourself  by  the  time  you  have  filled 
out.  Let  me  think;  what  is  your  height — six  feet  one,  if 
I  remember  rightly?  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  about  it," 

"  Well,  with  your  shoulders  and  long  reach  and  activity, 
you  ought  to  be  something  out  of  the  way  if  you  take 
pains,  Mark.     You  see,  I  am  barely  five  feet  ten,  and  am 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  165 

something  like  two  stone  lighter  than  you  are.  I 
suppose  you  are  not  much  under  twelve  stone  and  a 
half." 

"  That  is  just  about  my  weight;  I  weighed  at  the  miller's 
only  a  fortnight  ago." 

"  Good.  I  will  make  some  inquiries,  and  see  who 
would  be  the  best  man  to  take  you  in  hand  to  begin  with. 
And  now  about  lodgings.  Well,  I  should  say  Essex 
Street,  or  any  of  those  streets  running  down  from  the 
Strand,  would  suit  you.  The  rooms  in  Essex  Street  are 
bigger  than  those  in  Buckingham  Street,  and  you  will  find 
anything  between  the  two  in  some  of  the  others.  I  may 
as  well  saunter  round  there  with  you.  Of  course  money 
is  no  object  to  you?  " 

"  No,"  Mark  agreed,  "  but  I  don't  want  big  rooms.  I 
think  a  small  one,  when  you  are  sitting  by  yourself,  is 
more  cozy  and  comfortable." 

Finally  two  rooms  were  taken  in  Villiers  Street;  they 
were  of  moderate  size  and  handsomely  furnished:  the  last 
tenant  had  fitted  them  out  for  himself,  but  had  lived  to 
enjoy  them  only  three  months,  having  at  the  end  of  that 
time  been  killed  in  a  duel  over  a  quarrel  at  cards. 

"  Well,  I  think  you  are  in  luck,  Mark;  you  might  look 
through  a  good  many  streets  before  you  would  find  rooms 
so  fashionably  furnished  as  these.  I  see  he  went  in  for 
driving;  that  is  evident  from  these  engravings  on  the 
walls." 

"  They  are  common,  gaudy-looking  things,"  Mark  said, 
"  and  quite  out  of  character  with  the  furniture." 

"  Not  at  all,  as  times  go,  Mark;  it  is  quite  the  thing  for 
a  man  to  have  prints  showing  his  tastes,  riding  or  driving, 
shooting  or  coaching,  or  the  ring.  If  you  don't  like  them 
you  can  take  them  down,  or,  what  will  be  better,  take  them 
out  of  their  frames  and  put  some  of  the  champions  past 
and  present  up  there  instead." 

"  I  will  see  about  it,"  Mark  said  with  a  laugh.  "  I  may 
turn  out  a  complete  failure." 

"  There  is  no  fear  of  that,  Mark;  and  as  the  ring  is  all 
the  fashion  now,  I  can  assure  you  it  would  be  considered 
in  good  taste,  though  I  own  that  in  point  of  art  most  of 
these  things  leave  a  good  deal  to  be  desired.     Now  that 


166  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

that  important  thing  is  settled,  suppose  you  come  and 
lunch  with  me  in  Covent  Garden?  I  don't  belong  to  a 
club  yet,  though  I  have  got  my  name  down  at  a  couple  of 
them,  but  as  far  as  I  can  see  they  are  slow  sort  of  places 
unless  you  know  a  lot  of  people.  The  coffee-houses  are 
much  more  amusing;  you  see  people  of  all  sorts  there — 
fellows  like  myself,  who  have  no  clubs  to  go  to;  country 
gentlemen  up  for  a  week;  a  few  writers,  who,  by  the  way, 
are  not  the  best  customers  of  these  places;  men  whom 
nobody  knows,  and  men  whom  everybody  knows.  Of 
course,  the  best  time  to  see  them  is  of  an  evening." 

"  Yes,  I  have  generally  been  in  of  ah  evening  when  I 
have  been  up  in  town,  Dick,  and  I  have  always  been 
amused.  However,  I  am  quite  ready  to  lunch  there  now, 
for  I  breakfasted  early." 

"  I  have  to  make  some  calls  this  afternoon,  Mark.  At 
seven  this  evening  I  will  look  in  at  your  lodgings,  and  you 
shall  go  along  with  me  to  Ingleston's  in  St.  Giles'.  It  is 
one  of  the  headquarters  of  the  fancy,  and  Jack  Needham, 
who  taught  me,  is  safe  to  be  there,  and  he  will  tell  me  who 
he  thinks  is  best  for  you  to  begin  with." 

Accordingly,  after  taking  luncheon,  they  separated,  and 
Mark  went  to  his  inn. 

Ingleston's  was  at  that  time  regarded  as  the  headquar- 
ters of  the  fancy.  At  the  back  of  the  house  was  a  large 
room,  with  benches  rising  behind  each  other  to  accommo- 
date the  spectators.  Here,  on  the  evenings  when  it  was 
known  that  leading  men  would  put  on  the  gloves,  peers  of 
the  realm  would  sit  side  by  side  with  sporting  butchers, 
and  men  of  fashion  back  their  opinion  on  a  coming  prize- 
fight with  ex-pugilists  and  publicans.  A  number  of  men 
were  assembled  in  the  bar;  among  these  was  Jack  Need- 
ham. 

"  Good  evening,  Mr.  Chetwynd,"  the  man  said  as  they 
came  up  to  him.  "  It's  going  to  be  a  good  night.  Tring 
and  Bob  Pratt  are  going  to  have  a  round  or  two  together, 
and  Gibbons  will  put  on  the  gloves  with  anyone  who  likes 
to  take  him  on." 

"  This  gentleman  is  Mr.  Thorndyke,  a  squire,  Jack, 
whose  place  is  near  mine  at  Eeigate.  He  has  come  up  to 
town  for  a  few  months,  and  wants  to  learn  how  to  use  his 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  167 

mauleys.     I  told  him  that  you  would  advise  him  as  to  who 
would  be  the  best  man  for  him  to  go  to." 

"  I  can  tell  you  better  when  1  have  seen  him  strip,  sir. 
There  is  no  one  in  the  big  room  at  present.  It  won't  be 
open  for  half  an  hour.  Ingleston  keeps  it  shut  as  long  as 
he  can  so  as  to  give  everyone  a  fair  chance  of  a  good  place. 
If  the  gentleman  will  come  in  there  with  me  I  will  have  a 
look  at  him." 

Mark  expressed  his  willingness  to  be  looked  at,  and  the 
man  having  gone  and  got  the  key  of  the  room  from 
Ingleston,  went  in  with  them  and  locked  the  door  be- 
hind. 

"  Now,  sir,  if  you  will  strip  to  the  waist  I  shall  be  better 
able  to  say  who  you  should  have  as  your  teacher  than  I 
can  now." 

Mark  stripped,  and  the  man  walked  round  and  round 
him,  examining  him  critically. 

"  He's  a  big  'un,"  he  said  to  Dick  when  he  had  com- 
pleted his  examination.  "  He  has  got  plenty  of  muscle 
and  frame,  and  ought  to  be  a  tremendous  hitter;  he  is 
about  the  figure  of  Gibbons,  and  if  he  goes  in  for  it  really, 
ought  to  make  well-nigh  as  good  a  man,  if  not  quite.  I 
don't  think  Bill  would  care  about  taking  him  up  till  he 
knows  a  bit  about  it.  I  tell  you  what,  sir;  you  will  be 
too  big  altogether  for  me  by  the  time  you  get  to  be  quick 
on  your  legs,  and  to  use  your  strength,  but  if  you  like  I 
will  take  you  on  for  a  month  or  so — say,  two  months;  by 
that  time  I  think  you  will  be  good  enough  to  go  to  Gib- 
bons. I  will  just  call  him  in  if  you  don't  mind;  he  came  in 
just  before  you." 

In  a  couple  of  minutes  he  came  in  with  a  man  of  similar 
height  and  somewhat  similar  figure  tc  Mark. 

This  is  Gibbons,  sir,  ex-champion,  and  like  enough  he 
might  be  champion  now  if  he  chose;  as  fine  a  boxer  as  ever 
stripped,  but  he  is  ring-maker  now  to  the  P.  C,  and  it 
suits  him  better  to  do  that  and  to  teach,  than  to  have  a 
chance  of  getting  a  battle  once  a  year  or  so." 

"  Have  you  a  great  many  pupils,  Gibbons?  '? 

The  man  shook  his  head. 

"  I  am  too  big,  sir;  gentlemen  like  to  learn  from  some- 
one about  their  own  weight,  or  perhaps  a  bit  lightsr,  apd 


168  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

there  are  not  many  of  them  who  would  care  to  stand  up 
against  a  man  who  has  been  champion,  and  so  I  have 
plenty  of  time  on  my  hands.  I  am  a  hard  hitter,  too, 
even  with  the  gloves;  that  is  one  reason  why  Jack  had 
best  take  you  on  until  you  get  a  little  handy  with  your 
fists.  I  do  more  in  the  dog-fancier  line  than  I  do  with 
boxing,  but  there  is  nothing  I  like  better  than  getting  the 
gloves  on  with  an  amateur  who  is  likely  to  be  a  credit  to 
me.  That  is  my  card,  sir;  you  will  find  me  in  pretty 
nearly  any  time  of  the  day,  and  I  have  got  a  place  behind 
the  house  where  I  do  teaching  when  I  get  a  chance.  It  is 
handy  in  one  way,  because  you  can  drop  in  and  take  a  les- 
son any  time  you  like." 

"  That  would  suit  me  exceedingly  well,"  Mark  said; 
*'  and  when  I  have  had  a  couple  of  months  with  Needham 
I  will  come  to  you." 

Mark  now  put  on  his  clothes  again,  and  they  went  out 
together,  and  re-entered  a  few  minutes  later,  when  the 
door  was  open.  The  benches  were  soon  crowded.  Mark 
had  been  to  several  prizefights  with  Dick  Chetwynd,  had 
often  boxed  with  him  and  other  lads,  and  had  had  lessons 
from  an  ex-prizefighter  at  Eeigate,  and  was  therefore 
able  to  appreciate  the  science  shown  by  the  various  men 
who  confronted  each  other.  The  event  of  the  evening  was 
the  contest  between  Tring  and  Bob  Pratt;  both  were  very 
powerful  men,  who  were  about  to  go  into  strict  training 
for  matches  that  had  been  made  for  them  against  two  west 
countrymen,  who  were  thought  very  highly  of  by  their 
friends,  and  who  were  regarded  as  possible  candidates  for 
the  championship. 

Bob  Pratt  was  a  stone  heavier  than  his  opponent,  but 
far  less  active,  and  owed  his  position  more  to  his  ability 
to  take  punishment,  and  to  hard-hitting  powers,  than  to 
his  science.  In  the  two  rounds  that  were  fought,  Tring 
had  the  advantage,  but  the  general  opinion  was  that  in 
the  long  run  the  other  would  wear  him  down.  Both 
fought  with  good  temper,  and  were  warmly  applauded  as 
they  shook  bands  at  the  finish. 

"  I  think  I  should  back  Tring  in  a  fight,"  Mark  said,  as 
the  meeting  broke  up,  "  but  it  is  difficult  to  say,  for  he  is 
in  better  condition  than  the  other,  and  it  may  be  that 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  160 

when  both  are  thoroughly  fit  the  heavy  man  might  show 
more  improvement  than  he  would  do." 

The  hat  was  passed  round  at  the  conclusion.  Every 
man  dropped  in  his  guinea,  some  more,  it  being  under- 
stood that  the  collection  was  divided  between  the  two  men, 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  their  training. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  next  morning  Mark  commenced  work  in  earnest, 
and  for  two  months  visited  all  the  worst  slums  of  London 
in  company  with  one  of  the  Bow  Street  men.  Both  were 
generally  in  disguise,  but  Mark's  companion  sometimes 
went  openly  to  some  of  the  houses  inhabited  by  men  well 
known  as  criminals.  On  such  occasions  Mark  remained 
within  call,  ready  to  go  in  if  assistance  should  be  required; 
but  there  was  small  fear  of  this,  the  men  who  were  visited 
were  all  personally  known  to  the  officer,  and  generally 
greeted  him  with  "  You  aint  wanting  me,  are  you?  " 

"  Not  at  all;  what  I  am  wanting  is  a  little  information 
for  which  I  shall  be  qiiite  willing  to  pay  the  first  man  who 
enables  us  to  lay  hands  on  the  gentleman  I  want  to  find." 

Then  he  would  describe  Bastow's  appearance. 

"  He  has  taken  to  the  road,  I  fancy,  and  has  given  us  a 
good  deal  of  trouble;  if  it  is  the  man  I  think  it  is,  he  has 
been  away  from  London  for  some  years,  and  came  back 
eight  or  ten  months  ago." 

The  reply  was  always  to  the  same  effect: 

"  I  don't  know  of  such  a  man,  and  never  heard  of  him. 
For  my  part,  I  would  not  split  on  a  pal,  not  for  anything; 
but  I  should  not  mind  earning  five  guineas  to  put  you  on 
a  cove  who  is  not  one  of  us.  Besides,  it  aint  only  the 
monev;  you  know,  you  might  do  me  a  good  turn  some 
day."' 

"  Quite  so;  well,  I  can  tell  you  it  is  a  good  deal  more 
than  five  guineas  that  would  be  earned  if  you  could  put 
me  in  the  way  of  laying  my  hand  on  his  shoulder.  I 
don't  think  that  he  is  living  in  town.  I  expect  he  is  in 
some  quiet  neighborhood;  still,  if  he  is  on  the  road,  he 
must  have  a  horse  somewhere.  You  might  ask  among 
the  stables,  and  find  out  whether  anyone  keeps  a  hors« 
there  who  is  in  the  habit  of  going  out  in  the  afternoon 
and  not  coming  back  until  the  next  day.     You  have  plenty 

170 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  171 

of  time  upon  your  hands,  and  it  would  pay  you  well  if  you 
could  bring  me  the  information  I  want." 

The  officer  said  to  Mark  at  the  end  of  two  months: 
"  These  knights  of  the  road  don't  often  mix  themselves 
up  with  the  London  housebreakers.  The  most  likely  men 
to  be  able  to  tell  you  about  the  doings  of  such  a  fellow 
would  be  receivers  of  stolen  goods,  but  it  would  be 
dangerous  to  question  any  of  them — they  would  be  sure 
to  put  him  on  his  guard.  I  will  give  you  a  list  of  some 
of  them,  and  I  should  say  that  your  best  way  would  be 
to  watch  their  places  of  an  evening,  from  the  time  it  gets 
dark  till  ten  or  eleven.  Of  course,  it  is  just  a  chance. 
You  may  watch  one  place  for  a  month  and  he  may  happen 
to  go  there  the  very  day  you  have  gone  off  to  watch 
another  crib.  Still,  there  is  just  the  chance,  and  I  don't 
see  that  there  is  one  any  other  way." 

During  this  time  Mark  had  been  taking  a  lesson  every 
evening  with  Needham,  and  had  surprised  his  teacher 
with  the  rapidity  of  his  progress;  he  had  said,  the  very 
evening  before,  when  Mark  had  countered  him  with  a  blow 
that  knocked  him  for  two  or  three  minutes  senseless: 

"  "We  have  had  enough  of  this,  governor;  you  have  got 
beyond  me  altogether,  and  I  don't  want  another  blow  like 
that.  You  hacl  better  take  on  Gibbons  now.  You  are 
too  big  altogether  for  me,  and  yet  you  don't  fight  like  a 
heavyweight,  for  you  are  as  quick  on  your  pins  as  I  am." 

Well  pleased  at  having  the  day  to  himself  and  of  having 
got  clear  of  his  work  in  the  thieves'  rookeries,  Mark  went 
the  next  morning  to  Gibbons'  shop.  His  entry  was  hailed 
by  a  chorus  of  barking  from  dogs  of  all  sorts  and  sizes, 
from  the  bulldog  down  to  the  ratting  terrier. 

"  Glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  Gibbons  said,  when 
he  had  silenced  the  barking.  "  I  saw  Jack  last  week,  and 
he  told  me  that  he  should  hand  you  over  to  me  pretty 
soon,  for  that  you  were  getting  beyond  him  altogether,  and 
he  thought  that  if  you  stuck  to  it  you  would  give  me  all 
my  work  to  do  in  another  six  months." 

"  I  finished  with  him  last  night,  Gibbons,  and  I  shall 
be  ready  to  come  for  a  lesson  to  you  every  morning,  some- 
where about  this  hour.  I  have  brought  my  bag  with  my 
togs." 


172  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"  All  right,  sir,  I  am  ready  at  once;  the  place  is  clear 
now  behind.  I  have  just  been  making  it  tidy,  for  we  had  a 
little  ratting  last  night,  one  of  my  dogs  against  Sir  James 
Collette's,  fifty  rats  each;  my  dog  beat  him  by  three- 
quarters  of  a  minute." 

"  You  will  never  see  me  here  at  one  of  those  businesses. 
I  have  no  objection  to  stand  up  to  a  man  my  own  size  and 
give  and  take  until  we  have  had  enough,  but  to  see  rats 
slaughtered  when  they  have  not  a  chance  of  making  a  fight 
of  it  is  altogether  out  of  my  line." 

"  Well,  sir,  I  do  not  care  about  it  myself;  there  are 
lots  who  do  like  it,  and  are  ready  to  wager  their  money  on 
it,  and  as  it  helps  to  sell  my  dogs,  besides  what  I  can  win 
out  of  the  event — it  was  a  wager  of  twenty  guineas  last 
night — it  aint  for  me  to  set  myself  up  against  it." 

Calling  a  boy  to  look  after  the  shop,  Gibbons  went  away 
into  a  wooden  building  in  the  back  yard;  it  was  about 
twenty-five  feet  square,  and  there  were  holes  in  the  floor 
for  the  stakes,  when  a  regular  ring  was  made.  The  floor 
was  strewn  with  clean  sawdust;  a  number  of  boxing-gloves 
hung  by  the  wall. 

"  There  is  the  dressing  room,"  Gibbons  said,  pointing 
to  a  door  at  the  other  end.  When  both  were  ready  he 
looked  Mark  over.  "  Your  muscles  have  thickened  out  a 
good  bit,  sir,  since  I  saw  you  strip.  Before  another  four 
years,  if  you  keep  on  at  it,  you  will  be  as  big  a  man  as  1  am. 
I  am  about  eight  years  too  old,  and  you  are  four  years  too 
young.  You  will  improve  every  day,  and  I  shan't.  Now, 
sir,  let  us  see  what  you  can  do.  Jack  tells  me  that  you 
are  wonderfully  quick  on  your  feet;  there  is  the  advantage 
you  have  of  me.  I  am  as  strong  as  ever  I  was,  I  think, 
but  I  find  that  I  cannot  get  about  as  I  used  to." 

He  stood  somewhat  carelessly  at  first,  but  as  they 
sparred  for  an  opening  he  became  more  careful,  and  pres- 
ently hit  out  sharply.  Mark  leaped  back,  and  then, 
springing  forward,  struck  out  with  his  left;  Gibbons  only 
just  stopped  it  and  then  countered,  but  Mark  was  out  of 
reach  again. 

"  That  is  good  enough,"  Gibbons  said;  "  I  can  see  Jack 
has  taught  you  pretty  nearly  all  there  is  to  know.  We 
will  just  take  those  hits  again.     You  were  right  to  get 


COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET.  173 

away  from  the  first,  but  the  second  time  you  should  have 
guarded  with  your  left,  and  hit  at  my  chin  with  your 
right.  That  jumping-back  game  is  first-rate  for  avoiding 
punishment,  but  you  have  got  to  come  in  again  to  hit. 
You  took  me  by  surprise  that  time,  and  nearly  got  home, 
but  you  would  not  do  it  twice; "  and  so  the  lesson  went  on 
for  three-quarters  of  an  hour. 

"  That  will  do  for  to-day,  sir;  I  am  getting  blown,  if  you 
are  not.  Well,  I  can  tell  you  I  have  never  had  a  more 
promising  pupil,  and  I  have  brought  forward  two  or  three 
of  the  best  men  in  the  ring;  no  wonder  that  Jack  cannot 
do  much  with  you.  Give  me  six  months,  every  day,  and 
you  should  have  a  turn  occasionally  with  other  men,  and 
I  would  back  you  for  a  hundred  pounds  against  any  man 
now  in  the  ring." 

Three  or  four  days  later  Mark  received  a  message  that 
the  chief  wanted  to  speak  with  him  that  afternoon,  and  he 
accordingly  went  down. 

%"I've  got  a  job  for  you,  Mr.  Thorndyke;  it  is  just  the 
sort  of  thing  that  will  suit  you.  There  is  a  house  in 
Buckingham  Street  that  we  have  had  our  eye  on  for  some 
time;  it  is  a  gambling  house,  but  with  that  we  have  noth- 
ing to  do  unless  complaints  are  made,  but  we  have  had 
several  complaints  of  late.  It  is  a  well-got-up  place,  and 
there  are  a  good  many  men  of  title  frequent  it,  but  men 
of  title  are  not  always  more  honest  than  other  people; 
anyhow,  there  are  some  rooks  there,  and  several  young 
fellows  of  means  have  been  pigeoned  and  ruined.  They 
are  mighty  particular  who  they  let  in,  and  there  would  be 
very  little  chance  of  getting  my  regular  men  in  there. 
Now,  you  are  a  stranger  in  London,  but  you  have  friends 
here,  and  no  doubt  you  could  get  introduced.  We  want 
to  know  if  the  play  is  fair;  if  it  isn't,  we  would  break  the 
place  up  altogether.  We  know  enough  to  do  it  now;  but 
none  of  the  poor  beggars  who  have  been  ruined  will  come 
forward,  and,  indeed,  haven't  any  idea,  I  think,  that  they 
have  lost  their  money  in  anything  but  a  run  of  bad  luck. 

"  One  young  fellow  blew  his  brains  out  last  week,  and 
his  father  came  here  with  a  list  of  what  are  called  debts 
of  honor,  which  he  found  in  his  room.  There  they  are, 
and  the  names  of  the  men  they  are  owed  to;  of  course 


174  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

some  of  them  have  been  fairly  won,  but  I  have  a  strong 
suspicion  that  those  I  have  marked  with  a  cross  have  not 
been.  For  instance,  there  is  Sir  James  Flash,  a  fellow 
who  was  turned  out  of  White's  two  years  ago  for  sharp 
practice  with  cards;  there  is  John  Emerson,  he  is  a  man 
of  good  family,  but  all  his  friends  have  given  him  up 
long  ago,  and  he  has  been  living  by  his  wits  for  the  last 
five  years.  The  others  marked  are  all  of  the  same  sort. 
jSTow,  what  I  want  you  to  do  is  to  become  a  frequenter 
of  the  place;  of  course  you  will  have  to  play  a  little,  and 
as  you  are  a  stranger  I  expect  that  they  will  let  you  win 
for  a  bit;  but  if  not  the  old  gentleman  has  placed  £200  in 
my  hands  for  the  expenses." 

"  I  could  play  with  my  own  money,"  Mark  said  rather 
warmly. 

"  You  forget,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  chief  said  firmly, 
"  that  at  the  present  moment  you  are  a  member  of  my 
force,  and  that  you  go  to  this  place  in  that  capacity,  and 
not  as  Squire  of  Crowswood;  therefore  you  must,  if  you 
please,  do  as  I  instruct  you.  The  gentleman  will  be  ready 
to  pay  that  sum.  As  you  see,  the  amounts  entered  here 
total  up  to  nearly  £10,000.  He  said  that  it  will  ruin  him 
to  pay  that  sum,  but  that  he  must  do  so  rather  than  his 
son  should  be  branded  as  a  defaulter.  I  have  advised 
him  to  write  to  all  these  people  saying  that  it  will  take 
him  some  time  to  raise  the  money,  but  that  he  will  see  that 
nobody  shall  be  a  loser  by  his  son's  debts.  I  have  told 
him  in  the  meantime  that  I  will  endeavor  to  get  proof  that 
the  play  was  not  fair,  and  in  that  case  he  would,  of  course, 
refuse  to  pay  any  of  the  claims  on  that  ground;  and  you 
may  be  sure  that  if  unfair  play  was  proved  none  of  those 
concerned  would  dare  to  press  their  claims." 

"  Then  my  function  would  be  simply  to  watch?  " 

"  Yes,  to  watch,  and  to  bring  me  word  of  anything 
you  may  observe.  You  see,  without  making  a  public 
scandal,  if  it  could  be  found  that  a  man  was  discovered 
cheating,  and  the  way  in  which  he  was  doing  it,  one  would 
be  able  to  put  so  strong  a  pressure  on  him,  that  not  only 
might  he  be  forced  to  abstain  from  going  to  any  club,  but 
would  be  frightened  into  giving  up  any  I.  O.  XL's  he  might 
hold." 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  175 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  do  the  best  I  can,  sir;  but  frankly  I 
know  next  to  nothing  of  cards,  and  should  have  but  little 
chance  of  detecting  anything  that  might  be  going  on, 
when  it  must  be  done  so  cleverly  that  experienced 
gamblers,  watching  a  man  closely,  fail  to  see  anything 
wrong." 

"  I  quite  understand  that;  but  one  of  my  men  has  made 
a  study  of  the  various  methods  employed  by  gamblers  to 
cheat,  and  although  it  would  take  you  years  to  learn  how 
to  do  it  yourself,  a  few  hours'  instruction  from  him 
would  at  least  put  you  up  to  some  of  their  methods,  and 
enable  you  to  know  where  to  look  for  cheating.  The 
man  is  now  waiting  in  the  next  room,  and  if  you  will  take 
two  or  three  hours  daily  with  him,  say  for  a  week,  you 
ought  to  be  able  to  detect  the  doings  of  these  fellows  when 
to  others  everything  seems  right  and  aboveboard.  You 
may  have  no  inclination  for  cards,  but  knowledge  of  that 
sort  is  useful  to  anyone  in  society,  here  or  anywhere  else, 
and  may  enable  him  either  to  save  his  own  pocket  or  to  do 
a  service  to  a  friend." 

Mark  was  greatly  interested  in  the  tricks  the  man 
showed  him.  At  first  it  seemed  to  him  almost  magical, 
after  he  himself  had  shuffled  the  cards  and  cut  them,  the 
dealer  invariably  turned  up  a  king.  Even  admitting  he 
might  have  various  places  of  concealment,  pockets  in  the 
lining  of  the  sleeve,  in  the  inside  of  the  coat,  and  in 
various  other  parts  of  the  dress,  in  which  cards  could  be 
concealed  and  drawn  out  by  silken  threads,  it  did  not  seem 
possible  that  this  could  be  done  with  such  quickness  as  to 
be  unobserved.  It  was  only  when  his  teacher  showed  him, 
at  first  in  the  slowest  manner,  and  then  gradually  increas- 
ing his  speed,  that  he  perceived  that  what  seemed  impossi- 
ble was  easy  enough  when  the  necessary  practice  and  skill 
had  been  attained.  The  man  was  indeed  an  adept  at  a 
great  variety  of  tricks  by  which  the  unsuspecting  could 
be  taken  in. 

"  I  ought  to  know,"  he  said.  "  I  was  for  three  years  in 
a  gambling  house  in  Paris,  where  every  other  man  was  a 
sharper.  I  have  been  in  places  of  the  same  sort  in  Bel- 
gium, Holland,  Germany,  and  Italy.  At  first  I  was  only  a 
boy  waiter,  and  as  until  evening  there  was  nothing  doing 


176  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

at  these  places,  men  would  sometimes  amuse  themselves 
by  teaching  me  tricks,  easy  ones  to  begin  with,  and  when 
they  saw  I  was  sharp  and  quick-handed  they  went  on. 
After  a  time  I  began  to  work  as  a  confederate,  and  at  last 
on  my  own  account;  but  I  got  disgusted  with  it  at  last. 
A  young  fellow  shot  himself  at  the  table  of  the  gambling- 
house  at  Home,  and  at  another  place  I  was  nearly  killed 
by  a  man  who  had  lost  heavily — do  you  see,  it  has 
left  a  broad  scar  right  across  my  forehead? — so  I  gave 
it  up. 

"  I  was  in  the  French  police  for  a  time,  and  used  to 
watch  some  of  the  lower  hells.  I  was  nearly  killed  there 
once  of  twice,  and  at  last  I  came  back  here.  My  French 
chief  gave  me  a  letter  to  the  chief,  and  I  was  taken  on  at 
once,  for,  talking  as  I  do  half  a  dozen  languages,  and  being 
acquainted  with  most  of  the  swell  mobsmen  of  Paris,  I 
was  just  the  man  who  happened  to  be  wanted  here  at  the 
time.  Since  I  came  over  I  have  done  a  good  deal  in  the 
way  of  breaking  up  hells  where  sailors  and  others  are 
plundered.  But,  you  see,  I  cannot  be  used  for  the  higher 
class  of  work;  my  nose  has  been  broken,  and  I  have  half  a 
dozen  scars  on  my  face.  I  hate  the  sight  of  cards  now.  I 
nave  seen  so  much  of  the  ruin  they  do,  and  have,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  taken  a  hand  so  often  in  doing  it,  that  save 
showing  someone  who  would  use  the  knowledge  in  the 
right  way  how  the  tricks  are  done,  nothing  would  per- 
suade me  to  touch  them  again.  However,  as  a  protection, 
the  knowledge  is  as  useful  as  it  is  dangerous  when  used 
the  other  way.  It  would  take  you  ten  years  to  learn  to 
do  these  tricks  yourself  so  well  as  to  defy  detection;  but  in 
a  very  short  time,  by  learning  where  to  keep  your  eyes, 
you  would  get  to  detect  almost  any  of  them. 

"  You  see,  there  are  three  methods  of  cheating:  the 
first  by  hidden  cards,  the  second  by  marked  cards,  the 
third  simply  by  sleight  of  hand,  this  being  generally  used 
in  connection  with  marked  cards.  These  tricks  require 
great  skill  and  extreme  delicacy  of  touch,  for  the  marks, 
which  are  generally  at  the  edge  of  the  cards,  are  so  slight 
as  to  be  altogether  imperceptible  save  to  a  trained  hand. 
There  are  also  marks  on  the  back  of  the  cards;  these  are 
done  in  the  printing,  and  are  so  slight  that,  unless  atten- 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  Vtf 

tion  were  attracted  to  them,  no  one  would  dream  of  theii* 
existence." 

In  the  course  of  a  week's  practice  Mark  learned  where 
to  look  for  cheating;  he  could  not  indeed  follow  the  fingers' 
of  his  instructor,  for  even  when  he  knew  what  was  goinv; 
to  be  done,  the  movements  were  so  rapid  that  his  eye 
could  not  follow  them,  and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  he  was; 
unable  to  say  whether  the  coup  had  been  accomplished  or 
not;  but  he  could  see  that  there  was  a  slight  movement  of 
the  fingers  that  could  only  mean  that  something  was  being 
done. 

"  It  would  be  a  good  thing,"  he  said  one  day,  "  if  every 
young  fellow  before  going  out  into  the  world  were  to  have 
a  course  of  such  instruction  as  you  are  giving  me;  he 
would  learn,  at  least,  the  absolute  folly  of  sitting  down 
to  play  cards  with  strangers.  He  would  see  that  he  could 
be  robbed  in  fifty  different  ways,  and  would  be  at  the 
absolute  mercy  of  any  sharper.  I  never  had  any  inclina- 
tion for  gambling,  but  if  I  had  been  inclined  that  way  you 
would  have  cured  me  of  the  passion  for  life." 

The  week's  instruction  was  lengthened  to  a  fortnight, 
and  at  the  end  of  that  time  Mark  went  to  Dick  Chetwynd. 

"  Do  you  know,  Dick,"  he  said,  "  a  gambling  place  in 
Buckingham  Street?  " 

"  I  know  that  there  is  a  hell  there,  Mark,  but  I  have 
never  been  in  it.     Why  do  you  ask?  " 

"  I  have  rather  a  fancy  to  go  there,"  he  replied.  "  I 
hear  that,  although  a  good  many  men  of  fashion  haunt  the 
place,  the  crowd  is  rather  a  mixed  one." 

"  It  has  a  bad  name,  Mark;  I  have  heard  some  queer 
reports  about  it." 

"  Yes,  so  have  I.  I  should  think  that  it  is  a  very  likely 
place  for  a  man  like  Bastow  to  go  to  if  he  has  any  liking 
for  play.  Of  course  he  would  get  up  as  a  gentleman.  At 
any  rate,  I  have  been  making  what  inquiries  I  can  in  some 
of  the  thieves'  quarters,  and  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  is  not  likely  to  have  taken  up  his  abode  there,  and 
I  don't  think  I  can  do  better  than  make  a  round  of  some 
of  these  doubtful  houses.  I  should  like  to  begin  with  this, 
and  then  work  downwards." 

"  Well,  I  dare  say  I  could  manage  it,  Mark;  I  know 


178  COLONEL   THORNDfKE'S  SECRET. 

half  a  dozen  men  who  play  there;  they  say  there  is  more 
fun  and  excitement  to  be  got  than  at  White's  or  Crock- 
ford's,  or  any  of  those  places.  Some  men,  of  course,  play 
high,  but  a  good  many  who  go  there  only  risk  a  few 
guineas;  some  go  because  it  is  the  proper  thing  at  present 
for  a  man  about  town  either  to  play  or  to  bet  on  horses 
or  cock-fights,  or  to  patronize  the  ring;  and,  after  all,  it 
is  easier  to  stroll  for  an  hour  or  two  of  an  evening  into 
comfortable  rooms,  where  you  meet  a  lively  set  and  there 
is  champagne  always  going,  than  it  is  to  attend  races  or 
prizefights." 

Very  few  days  passed  that  Mark  did  not  go  in  for  half 
an  hour's  chat  with  his  friend,  and  two  days  after  this 
conversation   Dick  said: 

"  By  the  way,  Mark,  I  have  arranged  for  us  to  go  to  that 
hell  to-night;  young  Boldero,  who  is  a  member  of  my  club, 
told  me  some  time  ago  that  he  played  there  sometimes. 
I  met  him  yesterday  evening,  and  said  that  I  had  a  fancy 
to  go  and  have  a  look  at  it,  and  that  a  friend  of  mine  from 
the  country  also  wanted  to  go;  he  said  at  once  that  he 
would  take  us  there. 

"  '  I  should  advise  you  not  to  play  much,  Chetwynd/  he 
said;  '  sometimes  they  play  uncommonly  high,  and  there 
are  some  fellows  who  have  wonderful  luck.  Of  course, 
on  ordinary  occasions,  when  the  play  is  low,  you  could 
stake  a  few  guineas  there  as  well  as  elsewhere,  but  when 
really  high  play  is  on  we  small  fish  always  stand  out.  All 
I  can  say  is  that  I  have  never  seen  anything  that  savors 
■of  foul  play  in  the  smallest  degree;  but  j^ou  understand 
how  it  is,  if  one  man  happens  to  have  a  big  run  of  luck, 
there  are  always  fellows  who  go  about  hinting  that  there 
is  something  wrong  in  it.  However,  it  is  a  jolly  place  to 
drop  into,  and  of  course  there  is  no  occasion  to  play 
always,  and  if  one  loses  one  is  likely  to  win  on  the  nest 
race  or  on  the  next  fight.'  " 

Accordingly  that  evening  Mark  met  Boldero,  whom  he 
had  once  or  twice  before  seen  in  Dick's  company,  and  the 
three  went  together  to  the  house  in  Buckingham  Street. 
Boldero  nodded  to  the  doorkeeper  as  he  went  in,  and  they 
then  proceeded  upstairs  and  entered  a  handsome  room 
with  comfortable  sofas  and  chairs,  on  which  a  dozen  men 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  179' 

were  seated,  for  the  most  part  smoking.  Several  cham- 
pagne bottles  stood  on  the  tables,  and  all  who  liked  helped, 
themselves.  Boldero  was  known  to  several  of  those  pres- 
ent, while  two  or  three  were  also  known  to  Dick.  Boldero 
introduced  them  both  to  his  friends.  One  of  these  was 
the  Hon.  John  Emerson,  a  man  of  some  five-and-thirty, 
with  a  languid  air  and  a  slight  drawl. 

"  Glad  to  make  your  acquaintance,  sir,"  he  said  to  Mark. 
"  Have  you  been  long  in  town  ?  " 

"  Two  or  three  months  only,"  Mark  replied. 

"  Is  this  your  first  visit  here?  " 

"  Yes,  this  is  my  first  visit  to  any  place  of  the  sort,  but 
I  thought  that  I  should  like  to  go  the  rounds  before  I  went 
home  again." 

"  Quite  so.     Going  to  punt  a  few  guineas,  I  suppose?  " 

'*'  Yes,  I  suppose  that  is  the  right  thing  to  do." 

"  Well,  everyone  who  comes  is  expected  to  do  a  little 
that  way;  there  is  no  occasion  to  play  high." 

"  Oh,  I  should  not  like  to  do  that,"  Mark  said  inno- 
cently; "  indeed,  I  know  very  little  about  cards." 

"  Oh,  that  is  quite  immaterial  so  long  as  you  only  play 
games  of  chance;  in  fact,  you  don't  want  to  know  anything 
about  them.  You  see  others  staking  their  money,  some 
on  one  side  of  the  table,  and  some  on  the  other;  you  place? 
your  money  whichever  side  you  like,  and  take  your  chance. 
There  is  no  skill  in  it.  Some  people  play  on  what  they 
call  a  system,  but  there  is  nothing  in  it;  you  have  just  as 
much  chance  if  you  put  your  money  down  blindfolded.  If 
hick  is  with  you,  you  win;  if  luck  is  against  you,  you  lose." 

After  chatting  for  a  few  minutes  Mark  went  with  his 
two  companions  upstairs.  The  room  they  now  entered 
was  furnished  as  a  drawing  room,  except  that  in  the 
middle  was  a  table,  round  which  some  fifteen  people  were 
Beated,  while  as  many  more  looked  on;  round  the  room 
Were  several  small  tables,  on  which  were  packs  of  cards. 
These  were  for  those  who  preferred  to  play  piquet  or 
/•carte,  two  or  three  couples  being  so  engaged.  Mark 
knew  enough  of  cards  to  know  that  hazard  was  being 
played  at  the  large  table.  There  was  an  inner  room,  and 
Murk  strolled  across  and  looked  in.  It  was  at  present 
untenanted;  it  contained  a  center  table  capable  of  holding 


,80  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

four,  and  two  or  three  small  ones,  with  two  chairs  set  in 
readiness  to  each. 

"  That  is  where  the  heavy  play  goes  on,"  Boldero  said. 
"  None  of  your  four  or  five  guineas  wagers  there,  fifties 
and  hundreds  are  nearer  the  mark,  and  I  have  seen  a  thou- 
sand wagered  many  a  time.  It  is  exciting  work  even 
looking  on,  I  can  tell  you;  what  it  must  be  for  the  players 
I  cannot  say,  but  I  should  think  it  must  be  frightful." 

Mark  took  up  his  stand  at  the  hazard  table,  and  after 
looking  on  for  some  little  time  began  to  play.  Beginning 
with  guineas,  he  gradually,  as  luck  favored  him,  played 
five  guineas,  and  after  half-an-hour's  play  won  fifty.  Then 
luck  turned,  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  had  lost  all  he  won. 

"  You  ought  to  have  stopped,  Mark,"  Dick  said  re- 
proachfully, as  he  stepped  back  from  his  place,  which  was 
at  once  filled  by  one  who  had  been  standing  behind  him. 

The  play  in  the  inner  room  had  now  begun,  and  Mark 
went  in  and  joined  those  who  were  looking  on.  In  half 
an  hour  one  of  the  players  had  had  enough,  and  a  young 
man  said  to  Emerson,  who  was  standing  on  the  other  side 
of  the  table: 

"  Now,  Mr.  Emerson,  will  you  give  me  my  revenge?  " 

"  I  would  really  rather  not,  Mr.  Cotter.  The  luck  has- 
been  so  one-sided  lately  that  I  would  rather  leave  it 
alone." 

"But  it  may  turn  to-night/'  the  other  said.  "At  any 
rate,  I  will  try  it,  if  you  have  no  objection." 

There  was  a  certain  eagerness  in  the  young  man's  voice 
that  caused  Mark  to  watch  him  closely.  He  was  a  good- 
looking  young  fellow,  but  his  face  was  not  a  strong  one; 
and  although  he  evidently  tried  to  assume  an  appearance 
of  indifference  as  he  sat  down,  there  was  a  nervous 
movement  of  his  fingers.  Mark  took  his  place  behind  him 
as  play  began.  The  game  was  ecarte,  and  for  a  time 
ICmerson  lost. 

"  I  think  the  luck  has  changed,  Mr.  Cotter,  but  as  we 
generally  raise  the  stakes  after  playing  for  a  bit,  I  am 
ready  to  do  so.     Shall  we  make  it  fifty  pounds  again?  " 

"  With  pleasure,"  the  young  man  said. 

He  won  the  next  two  games,  then  for  some  time  they 
won  alternatelv. 


COLONEL  THORNDTKE'S  SECRET.  181 

**  Shall  we  say  a  hundred  again?  "  he  said. 

"  As  you  like,"  Emerson  replied.  "  We  don't  seem  to 
get  much  forwarder  either  way  at  present." 

A  considerable  number  of  lookers-on  had  now  gathered 
round.  So  far  Mark,  although  watching  the  fingers  of 
the  opposite  player  intently,  had  seen  no  sign  whatever 
of  unfair  play.  He  now  redoubled  his  attention.  Cotter 
won  the  first  game,  his  adversary  the  three  next.  Mark 
noticed  now  that  after  looking  at  his  hand  Emerson  looked 
abstractedly,  as  if  meditating  before  taking  the  next  step; 
there  was  no  expression  in  his  face,  but  Mark  fancied  that 
his  eyes  rested  for  a  moment  on  the  man  standing  next  to 
himself.  He  looked  at  his  watch,  and  then,  as  if  finding 
the  hour  later  than  he  had  expected,  moved  away  from  his 
place,  and  presently  joined  Dick,  who  was  standing  witk 
Boldero  on  the  other  side  of  the  table. 

"  Who  is  that  man  playing  with  Emerson?  "  he  asked  in 
a  whisper. 

"  He  is  the  son  of  Cotter,  the  head  of  Cotter's  Bank,  in 
Lombard  Street." 

As  the  men  were  standing  two  or  three  deep  round  the 
table,  Mark  could  not  see  the  table  itself,  but  this  mattered 
little,  for  his  attention  was  entirely  directed  towards  thu 
man  standing  behind  Cotter's  chair.  He  saw  that  after 
glancing  down  at  the  young  man's  hand  he  looked  across 
as  if  seeing  what  Emerson  was  going  to  do;  sometimes  his 
eyes  dropped  for  an  instant,  at  other  times  there  was  no 
such  movement,  and  after  noticing  this  four  or  five  times, 
and  noticing  the  course  Emerson  took,  he  had  no  doubt 
whatever  in  his  own  mind  that  the  movement  of  the  man's 
eyes  was  an  intimation  to  Emerson  of  the  nature  of  Cot- 
ter's hand.  The  young  man  had  lost  four  games  in  suc- 
cession; he  had  grown  very  pale,  but  showed  no  other  signs 
of  agitation.     Presently  he  said: 

'  You  have  your  usual  luck  again;  I  will  only  play  one 
more  game  to-night,  but  we  may  as  well  make  it  worth 
playing.     Shall  we  say  five  hundred  ?  " 
'  At  your  service,"  Emerson  replied. 

This  time  the  face  of  the  man  standing  behind  Cotter's 
chair  was  immovable,  and  Mark,  placing  himself  behind  a 
short  man  and  spraining  his  head  forward,  saw  that  Cotter 


182  COLONEL   THORNDYKE' S  SECRET. 

scored  four.  The  next  time  there  was  still  no  sign. 
Emerson  showed  a  king  and  scored  it,  and  then  won  every 
trick  and  the  game. 

"  That  makes  nine  hundred  pounds,"  the  young  man 
said  quietly,  writing  an  I.  0.  U.  for  that  amount  and  hand- 
ing it  to  Emerson.  There  was  a  general  movement  of  the 
spectators,  and  two  fresh  players  took  the  seats  vacated 
by  the  late  antagonists. 

"Who  was  the  man  standing  behind  Cotter's  chair? " 
Mark  asked  Boldero. 

"  That  is  Sir  James  Flash.  He  is  just  going  to  play, 
you  see;  it  is  sure  to  be  another  hot  game,  and  an  interest- 
ing one." 

"  Well,  I  think  I  will  go,"  Mark  said;  "  the  heat  of  the 
room  has  given  me  a  bit  of  a  headache.  I  will  see  you  to- 
morrow, Dick." 

"  Good-night,  old  man,"  Chetwynd  said;  and,  shaking 
hands  with  Boldero,  Mark  went  downstairs  immediately 
after  Cotter.  The  latter  went  into  the  room  below,  drank 
-off  a  tumbler  of  champagne,  and  then  went  down,  took 
his  hat,  and  went  out.  Mark  followed  him  for  a  short 
distance,  and  joined  him  as  soon  as  he  got  up  into  the 
Strand. 

"  Mr.  Cotter,"  he  said,  "  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of 
knowing  you  personally,  and  I  must  introduce  myself.  My 
name  is  Mark  Thorndyke,  and  I  am  the  owner  of  an 
estate  close  to  Beigate.  Would  you  mind  my  exchanging 
a  few  words  with  you  ?  " 

Cotter  looked  up,  and  was  about  to  give  a  flat  refusal, 
but  the  expression  of  Mark's  face  was  so  friendly  and 
pleasant  that  he  changed  his  mind  and  said  in  a  hard 
voice: 

"  I  really  do  not  know  what  you  can  have  to  say  to  me, 
Mr.  Thorndyke,  but  of  course  I  can  hardly  refuse  to  hear 
you." 

They  walked  across  the  road  and  turned  up  a  quiet 
street. 

"  For  certain  reasons  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  ex- 
plain," Mark  said,  "  I  went  to  that  place  for  the  first  time 
to-night,  and  I  watched  the  play  between  you  and  Mr, 
Emerson." 


COLONEL   THORNDTKE'8  SECRET.  183 

"  It  does  not  matter,  sir;  I  lost,  and  I  am  not  going1 
there  again." 

"  I  hope,  on  the  contrary,  that  you  will  go  there  again, 
Mr.  Cotter.  If  I  mistake  not,  from  what  I  heard,  you 
have  lost  considerable  sums  to  that  man." 

"  I  imagine,  sir,  that  that  is  no  business  of  a  stranger." 

"  In  no  way  personally,"  Mark  replied,  not  heeding  the 
angry  ring  in  the  voice,  "but  as  an  honest  man  it  does 
concern  me.  I  am  absolutely  convinced,  sir,  that  that 
money  has  not  been  won  from  you  fairly." 

The  young  man  gave  a  start. 

"Impossible!"  he  said  shortly.  "Mr.  Emerson  is  a 
man  of  good  family  and  a  gentleman." 

"  He  is  a  man  of  good  family,  I  admit,  but  certainly  not 
a  gentleman;  his  antecedents  are  notorious." 

"  I  have  never  heard  a  word  against  him;  he  is  inti- 
mate with  Sir  James  Flash  and  other  gentlemen  of  po- 
sition." 

"  I  am  not  surprised  that  you  have  not  heard  of  it;  it 
was  probably  to  the  interest  of  several  persons  that  you 
should  not  do  so.  Nor  do  I  suppose  that  you  are  aware 
that  Sir  James  Flash  was  himself  expelled  from  White's 
for  cheating  at  cards." 

"  Impossible!  "  Mr.  Cotter  replied. 

"  I  can  assure  you  of  the  fact,"  Mark  said  quietly. 
"Probably  you  have  among  your  acquaintances  some 
members  of  White's.  I  am  sure  if  you  ask  them  they  will 
confirm  the  fact.  Now,  sir,  I  can  assure  you  that  I  have 
no  interest  m  this  matter,  save  to  prevent  a  gentleman 
from  being  ruined  by  blacklegs.  May  I  ask  how  much 
you  owe  to  Mr.  Emerson  and  Sir  James  Flash?" 

The  young  man  hesitated. 

"  I  believe  you,  sir,"  he  said  at  last.  "  They  hold  my 
I.  0.  U.'s  for  £29,000.  I  need  hardly  say  it  is  absolute 
ruin.  My  intention  is  to  make  a  clean  breast  to  my  father 
about  it  to-morrow  morning.  My  father  will  give  me  the 
money,  in  the  first  place  because  he  loves  me  and  would 
save  my  name  from  disgrace,  and  in  the  second  because 
were  I  posted  as  a  defaulter  it  would  strike  a  severe  blow 
at  the  credit  of  the  bank.  So  he  will  give  me  the  money, 
but  he  will  bid  me  leave  his  house  forever.     That  will 


184  '  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

matter  little,  for  I  shall  pay  the  money,  and  to-morrow 
night  I  shall  blow  out  my  brains." 

"  Well,  sir,  if  you  will  follow  my  advice  you  will  neither 
pay  the  money  nor  blow  out  your  brains.  I  saw  enough 
to-night  to  feel  absolutely  certain  that  you  have  been 
cheated.  Sir  James  Flash  stood  behind  you,  and  was,  I 
am  sure,  signaling  your  hand  to  Emerson.  I  believe  that 
Emerson  played  fair  otherwise,  until  the  last  game,  but  I 
am  convinced  that  he  then  cheated.  You  had  good  hands, 
but  he  had  better;  and  although  I  did  not  see  him  cheat — 
for  I  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  table — I  am  convinced 
that  he  did  so.  Now,  sir,  I  advise  you  to  go  in  as  usual 
to-morrow  evening,  and  to  play,  raising  your  stakes  as  you 
did  to-night.  When  the  times  comes  I  will  expose  him. 
Should  I  not  be  able  to  detect  him  we  must  try  another 
night.  I  am  so  much  convinced  that  this  is  the  case,  and 
that  I  shall  succeed,  that  whether  you  play  one  night  or 
three  I  will  guarantee  that  you  shall  be  no  loser,  but  will, 
<m  the  honor  of  a  gentleman,  place  in  your  hands  the 
amount  of  your  losses;  so  that  you  will  not  have  to  ask 
your  father  for  a  check  larger  than  you  would  do  if  you 
confessed  to  him  to-morrow  morning.  I  only  ask  in  re- 
turn that  you,  on  your  part,  will  give  me  your  word  of 
honor  that  you  will  never  touch  a  card  again  after  you 
rise  from  the  table." 

"  I  cannot  accept  so  generous  an  offer  from  a  stranger," 
Cotter  said  in  a  low  tone. 

"  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  generous,"  Mark  replied 
quietly,  "because  I  am  perfectly  convinced  that  I  shall 
not  have  to  pay  at  all.  Have  you  any  other  I.  0.  XL's 
out?" 

"  I  have  given  them  for  about  £5000,  but  that  is  not  in 
addition  to  the  £29,000.  Emerson  told  me  that  as  he 
knew  that  I  should  have  difficulty  in  paying  them  at  the 
present  moment,  he  had  taken  them  up,  and  held  them 
with  his  own." 

"  Will  you  give  me  the  names  of  the  persons  to  whom 
you  gave  them  in  the  first  place?  " 

"  Certainly; "  and  he  mentioned  three  names,  all  of 
which  stood  with  a  black  cross  against  them  on  Mark's 
list. 


COLONEL  THORNDTKE'S  SECRET.  185 

"  Thank  you.      Then   you   will   go   to-morrow   night 

again  ?  " 

"  Yes;  and  I  swear  to  you  that  I  will  never  touch  a  card 
afterwards." 

"  I  don't  think  that  you  need  fear,"  Mark  said.  "  I 
have  not  been  long  in  London,  but  I  happen  to  have  been 
shown  a  good  many  of  the  tricks  that  these  blacklegs 
play  on  greenhorns,  which  will  account  for  my  having 
noticed  what  has  never  been  observed  by  the  honest  por- 
tion of  the  men  who  frequent  the  place.  Now  I  will  say 
good-night,  sir.  I  shall  be  behind  your  chair  or  his  to- 
morrow night." 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  say,"  Cotter  said  hesitatingly. 

"  There  is  no  occasion  to  say  anything;  it  is  the  duty  of 
every  honest  man  to  interfere  if  he  sees  another  honest 
man  being  robbed,  arid  that  is  my  sole  object  in  this  mat- 
ter. Good-night;  "  and  turning  round,  he  walked  rapidly 
away. 


CHAPTEK  XIII. 

The  next  morning,  before  going  round  to  Gibbons', 

Mark  saw  his  chief  and  told  him  of  what  had  taken  place 
on  the  previous  evening. 

"  I  certainly  did  not  think  that  you  would  succeed  so 
soon;  you  believe  that  you  will  be  able  fairly  to  expose 
these  fellows?  " 

"  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that  I  shall  be  able  to  expose 
one  of  them;  and  I  have  equally  no  doubt  that  if  the  others 
are  arrested,  either  false  cards  or  pockets  for  cards  will  be 
found  upon  them.  What  do  you  wish  me  to  do,  sir?  I 
can,  of  course,  expose  any  fellow  I  catch  at  it,  but  can  do 
nothing  about  the  others." 

"  I  must  have  more  than  one  captured,"  the  chief  said. 
"  At  even  the  most  irreproachable  club  there  may  be  one 
blackleg,  but  if  it  is  clear  that  this  place  is  the  haunt  of 
blacklegs  we  can  break  it.  There  are  half  a  dozen  Acts 
that  apply;  there  is  the  11th  Act  of  Henry  VIII.,  statute 
33,  cap.  9,  which  prohibits  the  keeping  of  any  common 
house  for  dice,  cards,  or  any  unlawful  game.  That  has 
never  been  repealed,  except  that  gaming-houses  were 
licensed  in  1620.  What  is  more  to  the  point  is  that  five 
Acts  of  George  II.,  the  9th,  12th,  13th,  18th,  and  30th, 
impose  penalties  upon  the  keepers  of  public-houses  for 
permitting  gambling,  and  lay  heavy  penalties  upon  hazard, 
roulette,  and  other  gambling  games,  on  the  keepers  of 
gamb]ing-houses  and  those  who  play  there.  Having  re- 
ceived complaints  of  several  young  men  being  rooked  in 
the  place,  we  can,  if  we  prove  that  some  of  its  frequent- 
ers are  blacklegs,  shut  the  place  up  altogether.  We  should 
do  it  quietly,  and  without  fuss,  if  possible;  but  if  we  shut 
it  up  several  others  of  the  same  sort  will  be  certain  to 
close  their  doors.  But  mind,  there  will  probably  be  a  des- 
perate row,  and  you  had  better  take  pistols  with  you.  I 
will  have  four  men  close  at  hand  from  ten  o'clock  till  the 

186 


COLONEL   THOBNDYKE'S  SECRET.  187 

time  the  place  closes,  and  if  they  hear  a  scrimmage,  or 
you  fire  a  pistol  out  of  the  window,  they  will  rush  in  and 
seize  all  engaged  in  the  row,  and  march  them  to  the  lock- 
up.    Of  course  you  will  have  to  be  included." 

Mark  then  went  to  Chetwynd. 

"  Well,  what  did  you  think  of  it  last  night?  " 

"  Well,  I  own  that  it  went  against  my  grain  to  see  that 
young  fellow  being  victimized  by  a  sharper." 

"  My  dear  Mark,  you  must  not  use  such  language  as 
that.  I  fancy  from  what  I  have  heard  that  the  Honorable 
John  is  not  altogether  an  estimable  character,  but  to  call 
him  a  sharper  is  going  too  far  altogether." 

"  I  don't  think  that  it  is,  for  from  what  I  saw  last  night 
I  am  pretty  well  convinced  that  he  did  not  play  fair.  I 
mean  to  go  again  to-night." 

"  But  why  on  earth  should  you  mix  yourself  up  in  such 
an  affair,  Mark?  It  is  no  business  of  yours;  you  are  not 
an  habitue  of  the  place.  Above  all,  it  is  extremely  unlikely 
that  you  are  right.  There  were  some  shady  people  there, 
no  doubt,  but  there  were  also  a  good  many  gentlemen 
present,  and  as  you  know  nothing  of  cards,  as  far  as  I 
know,  it  is  the  most  unlikely  thing  in  the  world  that  you 
should  find  out  that  Emerson  cheated  when  no  one  else 
noticed  it." 

"  It  is  my  business;  it  is  the  duty  of  every  honest  man 
to  see  that  a  poor  lad  like  that  should  not  be  eaten  up 
by  a  shark  like  Emerson.  I  don't  care  if  there  is  a  shindy 
over  it.  I  shall  not  interfere  unless  I  can  prove  that  the 
man  is  cheating,  in  which  case  no  man  of  honor  would 
go  out  with  him.  I  shall  be  glad  if  you  and  Boldero 
would  go  with  me  again  this  evening.  I  am  not  known 
there,  and  you  are  to  a  good  many  men,  and  Boldero  to 
many  more.  I  only  want  that,  if  I  get  into  a  row,  you 
should  testify  to  the  fact  that  I  am  a  gentleman,  and 
ordinarily  sane.  If  there  is  a  row  you  will  have  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  how  much  I  have  benefited  by  my 

'IIS." 

'  Yes,  I  heard  you  were  making  tremendous  progress. 
Jack  Needham  told  me  a  month  ago  that  you  had  knocked 
him  out  of  time,  and  I  went  into  Gibbons'  yesterday 
morning  with  a  man  who  wanted  to  buy  a  dog,  and  he  told 


188  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

me  that  he  considered  that  it  was  a  great  misfortune  that 
you  were  an  amateur,  for  that  you  only  required  another 
six  months'  practice,  and  he  would  then  be  ready  to  back 
you  for  a  hundred  pounds  against  any  man  in  the  ring. 
But  about  this  affair,  Mark.     Are  you  really  in  earnest?  " 

"  I  am,  Dick,  thoroughly  in  earnest;  so  would  you  be  if 
you  had  spoken  to  Cotter  last  night,  as  I  did.  I  tell  you 
that  if  I  had  not  given  him  a  little  hope  that  the  thing 
might  come  out  right,  he  would  have  blown  out  his  brains 
to-day." 

"  Well,  Mark,  if  you  have  set  your  mind  on  it,  of  course 
I  will  stick  to  you,  though  I  have  some  doubts  whether 
Cotter  has  any  brains  to  speak  of  to  blow  out,  else  he 
would  not  be  mad  enough  to  back  himself  against  Emer- 
son and  other  men  whom  Boldero  tells  me  he  has  been 
playing  with." 

"  He  has  made  an  ass  of  himself,  no  doubt,  Dick;  but  I 
fancy  a  good  many  fellows  do  that  at  one  time  or  other 
of  their  lives,  though  not,  I  grant,  always  in  the  same 
way." 

"  Well,  I  will  go,  Mark.  I  need  not  ask  Boldero,  for  he 
told  me  that  he  should  look  in  again  at  ten  o'clock  this 
evening,  for  he  thought  that  another  night's  play  would 
probably  bring  Cotter  to  the  end  of  his  tether." 

Accordingly  a  little  before  ten  they  walked  into  the 
gambling-house  together. 

"  ISTow,  Dick,  I  want  you,  as  soon  as  you  sit  down,  to 
take  your  place  in  the  front  line  within  a  yard  or  two  of 
Emerson.  I  don't  want  you  to  be  just  behind  him,  but  a 
short  distance  away;  and  I  want  you  to  keep  your  eye 
upon  Sir  James  Flash,  who,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  will 
take  up  the  same  position  that  he  did  last  night,  near 
enough  to  Cotter  to  see  his  hand.  You  will  remark,  I 
have  no  doubt,  as  I  did  last  night,  that  whenever  Cotter 
has  a  bad  hand,  Flash  will  either  close  his  eyes,  or  put  his 
hand  up  to  his  mouth  and  stroke  his  mustache,  or  make 
some  sign  of  that  sort.  When  Cotter  has  a  good  hand  he 
will  stand  perfectly  still  or  look  about  the  room.  At  any 
rate,  he  will  make  no  sign — that,  of  course,  is  a  guide  to 
Emerson  whether  to  propose  or  to  refuse  to  allow  Cotter 
to  do  so.     I  need  not  point  out  to  you  what  a  tremendous 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  189 

advantage  the  knowledge  whether  an  opponent's  hand  is 
good  or  not  gives  him.  Of  course,  while  watching  an 
hour's  play  I  can  only  know  that  Flash  was  making  signs, 
and  that  when  he  did  so  Cotter's  hand  was  a  bad  one.  It 
is  possible  that  the  manner  in  which  the  sign  was  made, 
either  by  closing  his  eye  or  twisting  his  mustache,  or  so 
on,  may  have  been  an  intimation  as  to  the  suit  in  which 
Cotter  was  strongest  or  weakest." 

"  By  Jove,  this  is  a  serious  thing,  Mark." 

"  It  is  a  serious  thing.  I  don't  want  you  to  get  into  a 
row  with  the  fellow.  I  should  like  you  to  give  me  a  nod 
when  you  have  satisfied  yourself  that  I  was  not  mistaken. 
I  will  take  upon  myself  to  denounce  the  fellow,  and  to  say 
what  I  noticed  yesterday,  and  you  can  back  me  up  by  say- 
ing that  you  saw  the  same  thing.  I  have  no  doubt  that  I 
shall  be  able  to  convince  every  decent  man  there  that  my 
charge  is  well  founded.  I  am  going  to  watch  Emerson. 
With  the  help  he  gets  from  Flash,  he  won't  risk  anything 
by  cheating  until  it  comes  to  a  big  stake  like  the  last 
game  yesterday,  in  which  case,  if  Cotter's  hand  happens 
to  be  a  strong  one,  he  is  likely  to  do  so,  and  I  fancy  if  he 
does  I  shall  be  able  to  catch  him  at  it.  You  had  better 
keep  Boldero  near  you.  You  can  whisper  to  him  what  you 
are  watching  Flash  for,  and  get  him  to  do  so  too;  as,  if  I 
catch  Emerson  cheating,  there  is  likely  to  be  a  row;  he  can 
lend  a  hand  if  necessary,  and,  at  any  rate,  his  joining  in 
with  you  will  suffice  to  show  his  friends  that  the  thing  is 
genuine." 

"  All  right,  Mark.  I  am  interested  in  the  matter  now, 
and  am  ready  for  anything." 

Soon  after  ten  Cotter  and  Emerson  again  sat  down,  and, 
as  usual,  a  lot  of  spectators  gathered  round  the  table.  The 
game  resembled  the  one  on  the  previous  evening.  Mark 
placed  himself  by  the  side  of  Cotter,  a  stranger  stood 
immediately  behind  his  chair,  another  member  of  the  club 
was  on  the  other  side,  and  Sir  James  Flash  stood  partly 
behind  him,  so  that  although  somewhat  in  the  background 
he  could  obtain  a  view  between  their  heads  of  Cotter's 
cards.  Mark  saw  to  his  satisfaction  that  Dick  and  Boldero 
had  secured  the  exact  position  that  he  wished  them  to 
take.     For  the  first  few  games  the  play  was  even,  and 


190  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

Dick  began  to  think  that  Mark  had  been  mistaken,  for 
Flash  appeared  to  take  little  interest  in  the  game,  and 
made  no  sign  how  Emerson  should  proceed. 

As  soon  as  the  stake  rose  to  a  hundred  again  he  dis- 
tinctly saw  Flash  close  his  eyes  and  play  with  his  mus- 
tache; he  called  Boldero's  attention  to  the  fact,  and  found 
the  latter,  who  had  also  been  watching,  had  noticed  it. 
By  the  time  a  few  games  had  been  played  he  verified 
Mark's  assertion  that  these  signs  were  signals  that  Cot- 
ter's hand  was  a  bad  one,  and  in  each  case  Emerson  played 
without  giving  his  opponent  the  opportunity  of  discarding 
and  taking  in  fresh  cards.  He  and  Dick  nodded  quietly 
to  Mark,  who  had  satisfied  himself  that  so  far  Emerson 
had  not  cheated  in  any  other  way.  As  on  the  previous 
evening,  Cotter,  after  losing  five  or  six  hundred  pounds, 
proposed  a  final  game  of  five  hundred.  Mark  bent  down 
his  head,  so  that  the  intentness  of  his  gaze  should  not  be 
noticed,  but  from  under  his  eyebrows  he  watched  Emer- 
son's every  movement;  suddenly  he  placed  a  foot  on  the 
edge  of  the  chair  of  the  man  sitting  in  front  of  him,  and 
with  a  sudden  spring  leaped  upon  the  table,  seized  Emer- 
son's hand,  and  held  it  up  to  the  full  length  of  his  arm. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  shouted,  "  this  fellow  is  cheating; 
there  is  a  card  in  his  hand  which  he  has  just  brought  from 
under  the  table." 

In  a  moment  there  was  a  dead  silence  of  surprise;  then 
Mark  forced  the  hand  open  and  took  Emerson's  card, 
which  he  held  up. 

"  There,  you  see,  gentleman;  it  is  a  king." 

Then  a  Babel  of  sounds  arose,  a  dozen  hands  were  laid 
upon  Emerson,  who  was  pulled  back  from  his  chair  and 
thrown  down  on  a  sofa,  while  hands  were  run  over  his 
coat,  waistcoat,  and  breeches. 

"  Here  they  are !  "  a  man  shouted,  and  held  a  dozen 
cards  over  his  head. 

The  place  of  concealment  had  been  cleverly  chosen;  the 
breeches  apparently  buttoned  closely  at  the  knee,  but  in 
reality  they  were  loose  enough  to  enable  a  finger  and 
thumb  to  be  passed  between  them  and  the  stocking,  and 
in  the  lining  of  the  breeches  was  a  pocket  in  which  the 
cards  had  been  placed,  being  held  there  by  two  pieces  of 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  191 

whalebone,  that  closed  the  pocket.  The  searchers,  among 
whom  were  Dick  and  Boldero,  did  not  have  it  all  their  own 
way;  four  or  five  men  rushed  upon  them,  and  endeavored 
to  pull  them  off  Emerson.  The  din  of  voices  was  pro- 
digious, but  Mark,  still  standing  on  the  table,  stilled  it 
for  a  moment  by  shouting: 

"  The  scoundrel  has  an  accomplice,  who  this  evening 
and  yesterday  has  been  signaling  the  strength  of  the 
cards  in  Mr.  Cotter's  hands." 

"  Who  is  he?  "  was  shouted  over  the  room. 

"  It  is  Sir  James  Flash,"  Mark  said.  "  I  denounce  him 
as  a  cheat  and  a  sharper." 

As  pale  as  death.  Flash  rushed  to  the  table. 

"  I  don't  know  who  you  are,  sir,"  he  said,  in  a  tone  of 
concentrated  rage,  "  but  you  are  a  liar,  and  you  shall 
answer  for  this  in  the  morning." 

"  I  will  answer  to  any  gentleman  that  calls  me  to 
account,"  Mark  said,  in  a  ringing  voice,  "  but  I  don't  meet 
a  man  who  has  been  expelled  from  White's  for  cheating, 
and  who  I  have  no  doubt  is  well  stocked  with  cards  at  the 
present  moment,  in  readiness  for  the  victim  that  he  is 
next  going  to  meet  after  the  plucking  of  Mr.  Cotter  has 
been  done.  Now,  gentlemen,  search  him  and  see  if  I  am 
wrong;  if  I  am  I  will  apologize  for  that  part  of  my  accusa- 
tion." 

Flash  drew  a  pistol  from  his  pocket,  but  in  an  instant 
his  arm  was  seized  by  those  standing  round  him,  and  it 
exploded  harmlessly.  Among  those  who  seized  Flash  was 
the  man  who  had  played  with  him  the  previous  evening. 
In  spite  of  his  struggles  and  curses,  and  the  efforts  of  his 
friends  to  rescue  him,  he  too  was  thrown  down  and  eight 
court  cards  were  found  concealed  in  his  sleeve.  The 
uproar  while  this  was  going  on  had  been  tremendous,  but 
it  was  suddenly  stilled  as  four  men  in  dark  clothes  entered 
the  room.  Each  held  in  his  hand  the  well-known  symbol 
of  his  office,  the  little  ebony  staff  surmounted  by  a  silver 
crown. 

"  I  arrest  all  present  in  the  name  of  the  king,"  one 
.''aid,  "  for  breaking  the  laws  against  gambling,  and  for 
brawling  and  the  use  of  firearms.  Now,  gentlemen,  re- 
sistance is  useless;  I  must  request  that  you  each  give  me 


192  COLONEL   THORNDYKE 'S  SECRET, 

your  card,  and  your  word  of  honor  that  you  will  appear 
at  Bow  Street  to-morrow  morning." 

"  What  is  all  this  about,  sir?  "  he  asked  Mark,  who  was 
still  standing  on  the  table. 

"  Two  fellows  here  have  been  caught  cheating." 

"  What  is  your  name  and  address,  sir?  " 

"  My  name  is  Mark  Thorndyke,  and  I  am  a  landed 
gentleman  at  Eeigate;  my  friends  Mr.  Chetwynd  and  Mr. 
Boldero  will  bear  this  out." 

"  Who  are  the  two  men?  "  the  constable  asked. 

"  The  two  fellows  with  torn  clothes,"  Mark  said. 
"  They  are  Mr.  Emerson  and  Sir  James  Flash." 

"  You  are  certain  of  the  charge  that  you  are  making?  " 

"  Quite  certain;  the  cards  have  been  found  hidden  upoa 
them." 

"  Yes,  yes!  "  a  score  of  voices  shouted;  "  they  have  been: 
caught  in  the  act  of  cheating." 

"  Take  those  two  men  into  custody,"  the  constable  said 
to  two  of  his  companions. 

"  Who  fired  that  pistol  ?  "  he  went  on. 

A  number  of  voices  shouted: 

"  Sir  James  Flash;  he  attempted  to  murder  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke." 

The  constable  nodded  to  the  man  who  had  laid  his  hands 
on  Sir  James  Flash,  and  in  a  moment  a  pair  of  handcuffs 
closed  on  his  wrists. 

"  You  shall  repent  this!  "  Flash  exclaimed  furiously. 

"  Calm  yourself,  Sir  James,"  the  constable  said  calmly. 
"  We  know  our  duty,  and  do  it  whether  a  man  is  a  peer  or 
a  peasant;  you  are  accused  of  card-sharping  and  an 
attempted  murder." 

"What  is  your  address  in  town,  Mr.  Thorndyke?"  he 
asked. 

"  18  Villiers  Street." 

"  Is  there  any  charge  against  anyone  else  here?  A  good 
many  of  you  seem  to  have  your  clothes  torn  and  dis- 
arranged." 

"  Some  fellows  attempted  to  rescue  Emerson  and  Flash 
while  we  were  searching  them;  for  what  reason  we  can  all 
pretty  well  imagine." 

"  I  shall  require  the  names  in  the  morning  of  your 


COLONEL   THORND  TEE'S  SECRET.  193 

assailants,"  the  constable  said;  "  it  looks  very  much  as  if 
they  were  confederates  of  the  two  prisoners.  Now,  gentle- 
men, you  can  all  leave.  This  house  is  closed,  and  will  not 
be  opened  again  until  this  affair  is  thoroughly  investi- 
gated." 

In  five  minutes  the  house  was  deserted. 

"  How  can  I  thank  you,  Mr.  Thorndyke?"  Cotter,  who 
was  one  of  those  who  had  seized  Mash's  arm,  diverted  his 
aim  and  searched  him,  said,  when  they  got  outside  the 
house.  "  You  have  saved  my  life.  It  did  not  seem 
possible  to  me  that  you  could  succeed  in  showing  that  I 
was  being  cheated,  and  I  had  firmly  resolved  that,  instead 
of  allowing  you  to  suffer  loss,  I  would  to-morrow  morning 
make  a  clean  breast  of  the  whole  affair  to  my  father,  as  I 
had  intended  to  have  done  this  morning." 

"  If  I  might  advise  you,  Mr.  Cotter,  I  should  say,  carry 
out  your  intention  as  far  as  making  a  clean  breast  of  it  is 
concerned.  Happily,  you  are  free  from  debt,  as  those 
I.  0.  XL's  are  worthless,  for  they  were  obtained  from  you 
by  cheating,  therefore  you  have  no  demand  to  make  upon 
his  purse.  The  police  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  endeavor  to 
keep  this  thing  quiet,  but  your  name  may  come  out,  and  it 
would  be  far  better  that  your  father  should  hear  this  story 
from  you  than  elsewhere;  and  your  assurance  that  you  will 
never  touch  a  card  again,  and  the  heavy  lesson  that  you 
have  had,  will  doubtless  induce  him  to  look  at  the  matter 
leniently.  It  will,  no  doubt,  be  a  painful  story  to  tell,  but 
it  will  be  far  better  told  by  you." 

"  1  will  do  it,  sir;  as  you  say,  the  lesson  has  been  a 
heavy  one,  and  henceforth  my  father  shall  have  no  reason 
to  complain  of  me.  May  I  call  and  see  you  to-morrow 
evening?  " 

"  Certainly.  I  shall  be  at  home  from  seven  to  eight, 
after  which  hour  I  have  an  engagement.     Good-night." 

<  otter  walked  on,  and  Mark  fell  back,  and  joined  Dick 
and  Boklero,  who  had  fallen  behind  when  they  saw  him 
speaking  to  Cotter. 

a  Well,  Mark,  I  congratulate  you,"  Dick  Chetwynd  said. 
"  You  did  it  wonderfully,  though  how  on  earth  you  knew 
that  fellow  had  a  card  in  his  hand  is  more  than  I  can 
guess." 


194  COLONEL   THOBNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"  I  felt  sure  he  was  going  to  cheat,"  Mark  said  quietly; 
"  I  saw  that  Cotter's  hand  was  a  very  strong  one,  and 
knew  that  Emerson  would  be  aware  that  it  was  so,  because 
he  would  receive  no  signal  from  Flash,  therefore  this  was 
the  time,  if  any,  that  he  would  cheat.  He  had  been  play- 
ing with  both  hands  upon  the  table.  I  saw  him  withdraw 
one,  there  was  a  little  pause,  and  then  it  came  up  again, 
and  I  had  not  a  doubt  in  the  world  that  there  was  a  card 
in  it,  and  that  it  had  been  hidden  somewhere  in  his 
breeches,  which  is  one  of  the  best  places  of  concealment, 
for  his  hand  being  under  the  table  while  getting  at  the 
card,  no  one  present  who  was  not  behind  the  scenes,  as  I 
was,  could  detect  him  doing  it." 

"  The  wonder  to  me  is,"  Boldero  said,  "  that  while  there 
were  a  number  of  men  looking  on  closely,  for  Emerson 
has  long  been  suspected  of  not  playing  fair,  you,  just 
fresh  from  the  country,  if  I  may  say  so,  should  have 
spotted  him." 

"  That  is  easily  explained,"  Mark  said.  "  Not  wishing 
to  fall  a  victim,  I  have  of  late  been  put  up  to  a  great  many 
of  these  sharpers'  tricks  by  a  man  who  at  one  time  had 
been  in  the  trade  himself." 

"  That  was  a  capital  idea,  Mark,"  Dick  said.  "  I  wish 
you  would  introduce  me  to  him." 

"  I  won't  do  that,  Dick,  but  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  teach 
you  all  T  know  myself  about  it;  but  I  fancy  that  after  this 
you  will  be  in  no  great  hurry  to  enter  a  gambling-hell 
again." 

"  That  is  so,  Mark.  I  have  never  had  any  great  inclina- 
tion for  play;  but  after  this  you  may  be  quite  sure  that  I 
will  fight  shy  of  cards  altogether.  Still,  I  shall  be  glad  if 
you  will  put  me  up  to  some  of  these  tricks,  for  I  may  be 
able  to  some  day  save  a  victim  of  card-sharpers,  as  you 
have  done  this  evening." 

The  next  morning,  when  those  who  had  been  present  at 
the  scene  of  the  previous  evening  arrived  at  the  office 
of  the  detectives  in  Bow  Street,  they  were  shown  into' 
some  private  rooms,  and  asked  to  wait.  Cotter,  Mark, 
and  his  two  friends  first  had  an  interview  with  the 
chief. 

"  You  will  understand,"  the  latter  said,  "  that  this  is  an 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  195 

altogether  informal  affair.  I  propose  you  first  tell  me 
your  story  as  briefly  as  possible." 

This  was  done. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Cotter,  I  take  it  that  you  do  not  wish  to 
prosecute?" 

"  Certainly  not.  I  would,  in  fact,  give  anything  rather 
than  appear  in  it." 

"  You  have  said  that,  in  addition  to  the  I.  0.  U.'s  that 
you  have  given  to  the  two  men  caught  cheating,  they  hold 
others  to  the  amount  of  some  five  or  six  thousand  pounds, 
given  by  you  to  three  other  frequenters  of  the  club.  In 
fact,  these  papers  have  been  found  in  Emerson's  pocket- 
book;  he  told  you,  I  believe,  that  he  had  taken  them  up, 
so  that  you  should  not  be  inconvenienced  by  them.  I 
understand,  then,  that  you  will  be  quite  content  if  you  get 
these  I.  0.  U.'s  back  again;  those  given  to  Emerson  and 
Flash  are,  of  course,  worthless.  After  what  has  happened, 
they  could  not  be  presented,  but  probably  you  might  have 
trouble  about  the  others,  for,  though  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  whole  of  the  men  were  in  league  together,  we  have  no 
means  of  absolutely  proving  it." 

"  I  shall  be  more  than  content,  sir;  I  have  no  wish  to 
prosecute." 

"  We  are  glad,"  the  chief  said,  "  to  be  able  to  close  a 
dangerous  place;  and  as  the  exposure  will  put  a  stop  to 
the  career  of  these  two  men,  and  no  doubt  alarm  a  good 
many  others,  we  don't  care  about  taking  the  matter  into 
court.  Such  gross  scandals  as  this  are  best  kept  quiet, 
when  there  is  no  object  in  ventilating  them.  Therefore, 
gentlemen,  as  Mr.  Cotter  is  willing  to  do  so,  we  shall  let 
the  matter  drop.  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will  step  into 
the  next  room,  however,  until  I  have  seen  these  three 
men." 

When  they  had  left,  the  three  were  brought  in. 

:c  You  have  been  concerned,  sirs,"  the  chief  said  sternly, 
■'  in  winning  large  sums  of  money  from  the  Hon.  William 
Denton,  from  Mr.  James  Carew,  from  Mr.  William  Hob- 
BOn,  and  others;  in  all  of  these  cases  the  two  men  caught 
cheating  last  night  wore  also  concerned.  You  all  hold 
notes  of  hand  of  Mr.  Hobson.  I  shall  advise  that  gentle- 
man's father  to  refuse  to  pay  those  notes,  and  promise 


196  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

him  that  if  any  further  request  for  payment  is  made  I 
will  furnish  him  with  such  particulars  for  publication  as 
will  more  than  justify  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  in 
refusing  to  honor  them.  You,  as  well  as  Mr.  Emerson 
and  Sir  James  Flash,  have  won  large  sums  from  Mr.  Cot- 
ter, and  the  fact  that  the  I.  0.  U.'s  he  gave  you  were  found 
on  Mr.  Emerson  points  very  strongly  to  their  being  in 
confederacy  with  you  in  the  matter;  at  any  rate,  they  point 
so  strongly  that,  whether  a  jury  would  convict  or  not  on 
the  evidence  that  we  shall  be  able  to  lay  before  them,  there 
can  be  no  question  whatever  as  to  what  the  opinion  of  men 
of  honor  will  be.  These  I.  0.  U.'s  are  in  our  hands.  Mr. 
Cotter  does  not  desire  to  pursue  the  case;  he  will,  how- 
ever, refuse  absolutely  to  pay  those  I.  0.  U.'s,  and  in  doing 
so  he  will  have  the  approval  of  all  honorable  men.  That 
being  so,  the  I.  0.  U.'s  are  absolutely  useless  to  you,  and  if 
you  will  agree  to  my  tearing  them  up  now,  he  has  most 
kindly  consented  to  let  the  matter  drop  in  your  cases." 

The  three  men,  who  had  all  turned  very  white  when  he 
was  speaking,  now  protested  angrily  against  imputations 
being  made  on  their  honor. 

"  Well,  sirs,"  the  officer  said,  "  in  that  case  the  matter 
can,  of  course,  go  on.  You  know  best  what  the  feeling 
will  be  as  to  these  I.  0.  U.'s.  They  will  form  an  important 
item  of  evidence  against  you,  you  will  see.  As  the  matter 
stands,  either  you  gave  them  to  Emerson  to  collect  for 
you,  without  any  money  passing  between  you — a  very 
strange  procedure,  which  you  will  find  it  difficult  to  ex- 
plain— or  else  he  gave  you  the  coin  for  them,  and  you 
passed  them  over  to  him,  and  have,  therefore,  parted  with 
all  claim  on  Mr.  Cotter  on  your  own  account.  Of  course 
I  impound  them  with  the  other  I.  0.  U.'s  as  proof  of  a 
conspiracy  between  you.  Now,  sirs,  am  I  to  tear  them  up 
or  not?  " 

The  three  men  looked  at  each  other,  and  then  one  of 
them  said: 

"  We  protest  altogether  against  the  assertion,  sir,  but 
at  the  same  time,  as  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Emer- 
son and  Sir  James  Flash  have  played  unfairly,  and  we  do 
not  wish  any  association  of  our  names  with  theirs,  we  are 
perfectly  willing  that  the  I.  0.  U.'s,  which,  under  the  cir- 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET*.  197 

eumstances,  we  should  never  have  dreamt  of  presenting, 
should  be  destroyed." 

"  I  think  that  you  have  chosen  wisely/'  the  chief  said 
dryly.  "  It  is  a  pity  that  you  did  not  do  so  at  first. 
These  are  the  I.  0.  XL's  he  gave  to  one  or  other  of  you. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  pleasanter  for  you  to  destroy  them 
yourselves." 

The  three  men  took  the  papers  with  their  names  on 
them  and  tore  them  up. 

"  Thank  you,"  he  went  on  sarcastically.  "  That  will 
place  you  in  a  better  position.  You  will  be  able  to  tell 
your  friends  that  you  felt  so  indignant  at  the  manner  in 
which  Mr.  Cotter  had  been  swindled  by  Emerson  and 
Flash  that  you  at  once  destroyed  his  I.  0.  XL's  for  the  sums 
that  you  had  won  of  him.  But,  gentlemen," — he  spoke 
sternly  now, — "  remember  that  we  have  a  long  list  against 
you,  and  that  the  next  victim,  or  let  us  say  his  father, 
might  be  more  disposed  to  push  matters  to  their  full 
length  than  is  Mr.  Cotter.  Bemember,  also,  that  we  keep 
ourselves  acquainted  with  what  is  going  on,  and  that 
should  trouble  arise  we  shall  produce  all  the  complaints 
that  have  been  made  against  you,  and  shall  also  mention 
your  connection  with  this  affair,  in  which,  as  I  understand, 
you  all  did  your  best  to  prevent  those  two  fellows  from 
being  searched." 

Without  saying  another  word  the  three  men  went  out 
of  the  room,  too  crestfallen  to  make  even  an  attempt  at 
keeping  up  their  air  of  indignation.  The  others  were  then 
called  in. 

"  I  am  sorry,  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  that  you  have  had 
the  trouble  of  coming  here,  for  the  gentleman  swindled 
has  declined  to  prosecute  the  swindlers,  and  you  will 
understand  that  he  is  somewhat  anxious  that  his  name 
should  not  appear  in  the  matter.  Fortunately,  as  instead 
of  paying  in  cash  he  gave  I.  0.  U.'s  for  his  losses,  he  will 
not  be  a  loser  to  any  large  amount  by  these  transactions. 
I  may  say  that  the  proprietor  of  the  hell  has  been  here 
this  morning,  and  to  avoid  trouble  he  has  consented  to 
close  his  place  for  good.  I  have  only  to  remark  that  I 
should  advise  you,  gentlemen,  in  future,  only  to  indulge  in 
gambling  in  places  where  you  may  be  fairly  assured  of  the 


198  COLONEL   THORNBYKE'S  SECRET 

character  of  the  men  you  play  with.  I  think,  in  conclu- 
sion, that  you  may  all  feel  grateful  to  Mr.  Cotter  for 
refusing  to  prosecute.  It  has  saved  you  from  having  to 
appear  in  court  as  witnesses  in  so  utterly  disreputable  an 
affair." 

There  was  a  general  murmur  of  assent,  and  in  a  minute 
or  two  the  room  was  clear.  Plash  and  Emerson  were  then 
brought  in,  with  a  constable  on  each  side  of  them. 

"  Mr.  Cotter  has,  I  regret  to  say,  declined  to  prosecute, 
and  Mr.  Thorndyke  has  done  the  same  with  regard  to  Sir 
James  Flash's  use  of  his  pistol.  You  have,  therefore, 
escaped  the  punishment  due  to  swindlers  at  cards.  It  is 
the  less  matter,  as  you  are  not  likely  to  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  making  fresh  victims,  for  the  story  will  be 
known  by  this  afternoon  in  every  club  in  London.  These 
I.  0.  U.'s  will  be  of  no  use  to  you — they  are  not  worth  the 
paper  on  which  they  are  written.  However,  I  shall  take 
it  upon  myself  to  hand  them  back  to  Mr.  Cotter,  to 
prevent  the  possibility  of  their  getting  into  other  hands 
and  giving  him  trouble.  You  can  unlock  those  handcuffs, 
constable;  these  men  are  at  liberty  to  go,  and  if  they  will 
take  my  advice  they  will  lose  no  time  in  crossing  the  water 
and  establishing  themselves  somewhere  where  their  talents 
are  likely  to  be  better  appreciated  than  they  are  here. 
Then  can  go;  one  of  you  can  call  a  hackney  coach  for 
them  if  they  wish  it.  They  will  scarcely  care  to  walk 
with  their  garments  in  their  present  condition." 

Then  the  chief  went  into  the  next  room. 

"  There  is  an  end  of  that  affair,  Mr.  Cotter.  Here  are 
the  I.  0.  U.'s  you  gave  to  those  two  swindlers.  Those  you 
gave  to  the  other  three  men,  who  were  no  doubt  their 
confederates,  have  been  torn  up  by  them  in  my  presence. 
They  declare  that  after  seeing  how  shamefully  you  had 
been  victimized  they  had  not  the  slightest  idea  of  ever 
presenting  them." 

"  I  am  sure  that  I  am  extremely  grateful  to  you,"  Cotter 
said.  "  I  know  that  I  have  behaved  like  a  madman,  and 
that  I  don't  deserve  to  have  got  off  as  I  have  done.  It  will 
be  a  lesson  to  me  for  life,  I  can  assure  you." 

On  leaving,  Dick  Chetwynd  walked  for  some  distance 
with  Mark — as  far  as  Gibbons'  place  in  St.  Giles'. 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'8  SECRET.  199 

*  There  is  one  thing  which  I  cannot  understand,"  he 
said,  "  and  that  is  how  it  was  that  the  constables  hap- 
pened to  be  so  close  at  hand,  just  at  the  time  they  were 
wanted." 

"  Well,  you  see,  Dick,  my  relations  with  Bow  Street 
are  just  at  present  of  a  somewhat  close  nature,  for  they 
are  aiding  me  in  the  search  that  I  told  you  that  I  was 
making  for  my  father's  murderer.  The  consequence  was 
that  I  had  only  to  mention  to  the  chief  that  I  fancied  I 
had  detected  cheating  at  that  place,  and  that  there  was 
a  likelihood  of  a  row  there  last  night,  and  he  at  once 
said  he  would  send  four  men,  to  come  in  if  they  heard 
a  rumpus;  and  he  was,  indeed,  rather  glad  of  an  oppor- 
tunity for  breaking  up  the  place,  concerning  which  he 
had  had  several  complaints  of  young  men  being  plucked 
to  the  last  feather.  Well,  it  was  lucky  they  came.  I 
don't  say  that  it  would  have  made  any  difference,  because 
I  think  our  side  was  a  great  deal  stronger  than  they  were, 
still  it  would  have  led  to  a  nasty  row,  and  perhaps  to  half 
a  dozen  duels  afterwards.  Well,  I  will  say  good-by  now. 
I  am  very  glad  that  the  affair  has  been  dropped;  it  would 
not  have  mattered  so  much  to  me,  as  I  am  single  and  my 
own  master,  but  there  were  a  good  many  men  there  who 
would  have  been  ready  to  have  paid  up  handsomely  rather 
than  that  their  names  should  appear  in  connection  with 
a  row  at  a  gambling-house." 

At  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  Philip  Cotter  called  at 
Mark's  lodgings,  accompanied  by  his  father,  who,  as  he 
came  in  with  him,  advanced  at  once  to  Mark  and  shook 
him  warmly  by  the  hand. 

"  My  son  has  told  me  everything,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  he 
said,  "  and  I  cannot  thank  you  sufficiently  for  the  noble 
part  you  took  in  rescuing  him  from  the  terrible  effects 
of  his  folly.  I  have  been  down  here  twice  this  afternoon, 
for  I  felt  that  I  could  not  rest  until  I  had  shaken  you  by 
the  hand.  It  is  not  the  question  of  money  so  much, 
though  that  would  have  been  a  serious  loss  to  me,  but  it 
is  the  saving  of  my  son's  life,  and  the  saving  of  the 
honor  of  our  name." 

"  I  am  glad  indeed  to  have  been  of  service,  Mr.  Cotter, 
and  I  trust  that  you  have  consented  to  forgive  the  folly 


200  COLONEL   IHORNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

that  he  has  committed,  and  which  I  feel  sure  will  never  be 
repeated." 

"  Yes.  It  was  a  heavy  blow  to  me,  Mr.  Thorndyke, 
when  Philip  told  me;  but  as  he  has  sworn  most  solemnly 
never  to  touch  a  card  again,  and  as  I  feel  sure  that  the 
lesson  cannot  but  be  a  useful  one  to  him  all  his  life,  I 
have  agreed  to  say  no  more  about  it,  and  let  the  matter 
drop  altogether.  He  has  been  fortunate  to  have  escaped 
so  easily.  He  has  told  me  of  the  noble  offer  you  made  to 
pay  his  losses  if  you  should  not  be  able  to  prove  that  he 
was  being  cheated." 

"  I  was  not  committing  myself  heavily,"  Mark  said  with 
a  smile.  "  I  had  seen  enough  to  be  absolutely  certain, 
and  was  sure  that  I  should  be  able  to  bring  it  home  to 
them." 

"  But  it  was  at  a  considerable  risk  to  yourself,  Mr. 
Thorndyke.  As  it  was,  you  had  a  narrow  escape  of  being 
shot." 

"  Not  a  very  narrow  escape,"  Mark  replied.  "  With 
so  many  men  standing  round  him  and  their  attention 
called  to  him,  it  was  certain  that  he  would  be  seized 
before  he  could  take  aim  at  me.  I  had  pistols  in  my 
pocket,  and  was  prepared  to  fire  in  an  instant,  but  I  saw  at 
once  that  there  was  no  occasion  for  that." 

"  But  I  cannot  imagine  how  you  should  have  detected 
the  cheating,"  the  banker  said.  "  You  are  younger  than 
my  son,  and  he  said  that  you  told  him  that  you  had  only 
recently  come  up  to  London.  It  is  astonishing  that 
while  experienced  players  should  never  have  noticed  that 
anything  was  wrong  you  should  have  discovered  it." 

"  The  explanation  is  simple,  Mr.  Cotter.  I  have  no 
inclination  for  play  myself,  but  I  happened  a  short  time 
since  to  fall  in  with  a  man  who  was  well  acquainted  with 
all  the  various  methods  of  card-sharping.  I  thought  that 
a  knowledge  of  that  might  some  day  be  useful,  and  I  got 
him  to  put  me  up  to  a  number  of  the  tricks  of  card- 
sharpers  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Having  these  fresh 
in  my  mind,  and  seeing  that  your  son  was  playing  with 
a  man  whose  reputation  I  knew  to  be  bad,  I  naturally 
concentrated  my  attention  upon  him,  and  was  not  long 
in  discovering  that  he  had  a  confederate  standing  behind 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  201 

your  son's  chair.  Being  a  stranger  in  the  place,  I  could 
not  denounce  him,  but  the  next  night  I  set  two  friends 
to  watch  that  method  of  cheating,  while  I  kept  my  eyes 
fixed  on  Emerson's  hands.  As  I  anticipated,  there  was 
nothing  suspicious  about  his  movements  so  long  as  play 
was  comparatively  low,  for  the  advantage  that  he  gained 
from  his  confederate  enabled  him  to  be  sure  of  winning 
in  the  long  run;  it  was  only  in  the  last  game,  which  was 
a  high  one,  that,  as  he  knew  that  your  son  had  a  strong 
hand,  he  was  tempted  to  stock  his  hand  with  false  cards; 
and  watching  closely,  I  had  no  difficulty  in  detecting  his 
method." 

"  Well,  sir,  you  have,  at  any  rate,  laid  us  both  under 
the  deepest  obligation.  Is  there  any  possible  way  in 
which  we  can  show  our  gratitude  ?  " 

Mark  thought  for  a  moment. 

"  In  one  way  you  might  do  me  a  favor,  Mr.  Cotter.  A 
ward  of  my  father's,  who  will  inherit  some  property  when 
she  comes  of  age,  is  at  present  finishing  her  education 
in  town,  and  is  living  with  a  lady  who  has  been  her  friend 
and  companion  since  childhood.  I  have  a  good  many 
acquaintances,  but  they  are  all  bachelors;  and  having  been 
living  down  at  my  father's  place,  near  Eeigate,  for  so 
many  years,  the  ladies  have  no  acquaintances  in  London. 
They  live  at  Islington,  and  their  life  is  a  very  dull  one.  I 
am  anxious,  for  several  reasons,  that  the  young  lady 
should  have  the  advantage  of  going  somewhat  into  society. 
Hitherto  I  have  had  no  means  of  introducing  her.  If  it 
is  not  too  much  to  ask,  Mr.  Cotter,  I  should  be  extremely 
glad  and  obliged  if  Mrs.  Cotter  would  call  on  them  and 
give  them  an  introduction  into  society.  The  lady  with 
my  father's  ward  is  the  widow  of  a  captain  in  the  Indian 
Army,  and  is  in  all  ways  a  very  charming  person,  and  has 
been  at  the  head  of  my  father's  establishment  for  the  last 
twelve  years." 

"  With  the  greatest  pleasure  in  the  world,  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke.  I  am  only  sorry  that  it  is  so  slight  a  thing  that 
you  ask  of  me.  I  have  thought  it  but  right  to  tell  my 
wife  what  has  passed,  and  I  had  difficulty  in  persuading 
her  not  to  come  with  me  this  evening  to  also  express  her 
gratitude  to  you.     She  will  be  pleased  indeed  to  call  upon 


202  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

your  friends  at  once,  and  I  am  sure  she  will  do  so  to-mor- 
row. I  was  going  to  ask  you  to  dine  with  us,  and  I  hope 
that  you  will  do  so.  We  shall  have  no  one  else,  and  I 
hope  that  you  will  he  able  to  arrange  to  meet  your  friends 
at  our  house  a  few  days  later." 

The  next  morning  Mark  called  on  Mrs.  Cunningham. 

"  I  think  you  will  have  a  visitor  to-day,"  he  said.  "  It 
has  happened  that  I  have  been  able  to  do  a  service  to  the 
son  of  Mr.  Cotter,  a  wealthy  banker.  I  am  going  to  dine 
there  this  evening.  He  asked  me  about  my  friends  in 
London,  and  I  mentioned  that  my  only  lady  friends  were 
you  and  Millicent.  He  asked  a  few  questions  as  to  where 
you  were  living,  and  so  on,  and  said  that  his  wife  would 
have  much  pleasure  in  calling  and  introducing  Millicent 
into  society.  As  your  life  is  very  dull  here,  and  it  is 
clearly  very  desirable  that  Millicent  should  go  into  society, 
I  gladly  accepted  the  offer,  and  I  believe  that  she  will 
call  to-day." 

"  That  will  be  very  nice  indeed,  Mark.  Millicent  is 
not  complaining,  but  she  must  have  felt  it  very  dull.  I 
have  even  felt  it  so  myself  after  the  cheerful  society  we 
had  at  home." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  shall  like  it,"  Millicent  said 
doubtfully. 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  will,  Millicent;  and  besides,  it  will  be 
good  for  you.  It  is  not  natural  for  a  girl  of  your  age  to 
be  here  without  friends,  and  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  know 
that  you  are  going  to  mix  a  little  with  other  people." 

Mrs.  Cotter  called  that  afternoon,  and  three  days  later 
Mark  met  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Millicent  at  a  dinner- 
party at  the  banker's,  and  Mrs.  Cotter  introduced  them 
very  warmly  to  several  of  her  friends,  with  the  result  that 
in  a  very  short  time  they  were  frequently  invited  out, 
while  they  became  very  intimate  with  the  banker  and  his 
wife,  and  often  spent  the  day  there. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Some  little  time  after  this  Mark  was  intrusted  by  his 
chief  with  the  work  of  discovering  a  man  who  had  com- 
mitted a  very  atrocious  murder,  and  was,  it  was  tolerably 
certain,  hiding  in  the  shims  of  Westminster.  It  was  the 
first  business  of  the  kind  that  had  been  confided  to  him, 
and  he  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  carry  it  out  success- 
fully. He  dressed  himself  as  a  street  hawker,  and  took  a 
small  lodging  in  one  of  the  lanes,  being  away  the  greater 
portion  of  the  day  ostensibly  on  his  business,  and  of  an 
evening  dropped  into  some  of  the  worst  public-houses  in 
the  neighborhood.  He  was  at  first  viewed  with  some  sus- 
picion, but  it  was  not  long  before  he  became  popular.  He 
let  it  be  understood  that  he  had  got  into  trouble  down  in 
the  country,  and  that  he  was  quite  ready  to  take  part  in 
any  job  that  promised  to  be  profitable.  But  he  princi- 
pally owed  his  popularity  to  the  fact  that  the  bully  of  the 
locality  picked  a  quarrel  with  him,  and,  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  those  present,  Mark  invited  him  to  go  outside. 

"  You  had  better  make  it  up  with  him,  mate,"  a  man 
sitting  by  his  side  whispered.  "  He  was  in  the  prize  ring 
at  one  time,  and  thrashed  big  Mike  Hartley  at  Kenning- 
ton.  He  had  to  give  it  up  owing  to  having  fought  a  cross. 
He  would  kill  you  in  five  minutes." 

"  I  will  chance  that,"  Mark  said  quietly,  as  he  moved 
towards  the  door.  "  I  don't  think  that  he  is  stronger 
than  I  am,  and  I  can  use  my  fists  a  bit,  too." 

By  the  time  they  had  taken  off  their  upper  garments 
a  crowd  had  assembled.  The  news  that  a  hawker  was 
going  to  stand  up  against  Black  -Tim  circulated  rapidly, 
and  caused  intense  excitement.  To  the  astonishment  of 
the  spectators,  the  bully  from  the  first  had  not  a  shadow 
of  a  chance,  and  at  the  end  of  the  third  round  was  carried 
away  senseless,  while  the  hawker  had  not  received  a 
scratch.     A  few  days  later  Mark,  who,  on  the  strength  of 

203 


204  COLONEL   TKORNDYKWS  SECRET. 

his  prowess,  had  had  two  or  three  hints  that  he  could  be 
put  up  to  a  good  thing  if  he  was  inclined  to  join,  was 
going  down  to  Westminster  when  two  men  stopped  and 
looked  after  him. 

"  I  tell  you,  Emerson,  that  is  the  fellow.  I  could  swear 
to  him  anywhere.  What  he  is  got  up  like  that  for  I  can- 
not tell  you,  but  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  he  is  one  of 
that  Bow  Street  gang.  He  called  himself  Mark  Thorn- 
dyke,  and  Chetwynd  said  that  he  was  a  gentleman  of  prop- 
erty; but  that  might  have  been  part  of  the  plant  to  catch 
us.  I  have  never  been  able  to  understand  how  a  raw 
countryman  could  have  caught  you  palming  that  card.  I 
believe  that  fellow  is  a  Bow  Street  runner;  if  so,  it  is  rum 
if  we  cannot  manage  to  get  even  with  him  before  we  go. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  luck  had  deserted  us  altogether;  but 
this  looks  as  if  it  was  going  to  turn  again.  Let's  go  after 
him." 

Keeping  some  fifty  yards  behind  him,  they  watched 
Mark  to  his  lodgings,  waited  until  he  came  out  again,  and 
followed  him  to  a  public-house. 

"  He  is  acting  as  a  detective,  sure  enough/'  Emerson 
said.     "  The  question  is,  what  are  we  to  do  next?  " 

In  half  an  hour  Mark  came  out  again.  Several  people 
nodded  to  him  as  he  passed  them,  but  they  saw  a  big  man, 
who  happened  to  be  standing  imder  a  lamp,  turn  his 
back  suddenly  as  Mark  approached  him,  and,  after  he  had 
passed,  stand  scowling  after  him,  and  muttering  deep 
curses.     Elash  at  once  went  up  to  him. 

"  Do  you  know  who  that  fellow  is,  my  man?  " 

The  fellow  turned  savagely  upon  him. 

"  I  don't  know  who  he  is;  but  what  is  that  to  you?  " 

"  He  is  not  a  friend  of  ours,"  Flash  said  quietly; 
"  quite  the  contrary.  We  have  known  him  when  he  was 
not  got  up  like  this,  and  we  are  rather  curious  to  know 
what  he  is  doing  here." 

"  Do  you  mean  that?  " 

"  I  do;  I  owe  the  fellow  a  grudge." 

"  So  do  I,"  the  man  growled.  "  Just  step  up  this  next 
turning;  there  won't  be  anyone  about  there.  Now,  then, 
what  do  yer  want  to  know?  " 

"  I  want  to  know  who  he  is:" 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRE1.  205 

"  Well,  he  calls  himself  a  hawker;  but  my  idea  of  him 
is  he  is  one  of  the  fancy,  perhaps  a  west  countryman,  who 
is  keeping  dark  here  till  he  can  get  a  match  on.  I  have 
been  a  prizefighter  myself,  but  he  knocked  me  out  in 
three  rounds  the  other  day." 

"  Well,  the  last  time  I  saw  him,"  Flash  said,  "  he  was 
dressed  as  a  swell.  My  idea  of  him  is,  he  is  a  Bow  Street 
runner,  and  he  is  got  up  like  this  to  lay  his  hands  on  some 
of  the  fellows  down  here." 

"  You  don't  mean  it! "  the  man  said  with  a  deep  oath. 
"  Then  I  can  tell  you  he  has  come  to  the  wrong  shop.  I 
have  only  got  to  whisper  it  about,  and  his  life  would  not 
be  worth  an  hour's  purchase.  I  had  meant  to  stick  a  knife 
in  him  on  the  first  opportunity,  but  this  will  save  me  the 
trouble." 

"  Well,  you  can  have  your  revenge  and  five  guineas 
besides,"  Flash  said.  "  But  we  must  be  there  at  the  time. 
I  should  like  him  to  know  that  I  was  at  the  bottom  of  his 
being  caught." 

They  stood  talking  together  for  a  few  minutes,  and 
then  separated,  Flash  and  his  companion  going  back  to 
a  quiet  lodging  they  had  taken  until  they  could  finish  their 
arrangements  for  disposing  of  their  furniture  and  belong- 
ings before  going  abroad,  while  at  the  same  time  they 
finished  plucking  a  country  greenhorn  they  had  met  at  a 
coffee-house.  Two  days  later,  wrapped  up  in  great  coats. 
and  with  rough  caps  pulled  down  over  their  eyes,  they 
entered  the  thieves'  resort  half  an  hour  before  Mark's 
usual  time  of  getting  there.  A  larger  number  of  men  than 
usual  were  assembled,  and  among  them  was  Black  Jim. 
The  men  were  all  talking  excitedly,  and  were  evidently 
furious  at  the  news  that  the  pugilist  had  just  told  them. 

"  Those  are  the  gents  that  have  given  me  the  office," 
he  said,  as  Flash  and  his  companion  entered.  "  They  can 
tell  yer  he  is  one  of  that  cursed  Bow  Street  lot." 

"  That  is  right  enough,  my  men,"  Flash  said.  "  He  and 
four  of  his  mates  broke  into  a  place  where  we  were  having 
a  bit  of  play,  three  weeks  since,  marched  us  all  away  to 
Bow  Street,  and  shut  the  place  up.  I  don't  know  what 
he  is  down  here  for,  but  you  may  be  sure  that  it's  for  no 
good  to  some  of  you.     We  owe  him  a  heavy  one  ourselves. 


206  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET- 

He  came  spying  on  us  dressed  up  as  a  swell  and  spoilt 
our  game,  and  got  the  darbies  put  on  us,  and  we  have 
sworn  to  get  even  with  him." 

"  You  will  get  even,  don't  you  fear,"  one  of  the  men 
growled,  "  and  more  than  even,  strike  me  blind  if  3^0 u 
don't." 

"  Look  here,  lads,"  Flash  said.  "  There  is  one  thing  I 
say — don't  use  your  knives  on  him;  remember  he  is  a  run- 
ner, and  no  doubt  his  chief  knows  all  that  he  is  doing,  and 
no  doubt  ordered  him  to  come  here.  There  will  be  a  big 
search,  you  may  be  sure,  when  he  don't  turn  up  to  make 
his  report.  So  don't  let's  have  any  bloodshed.  Let  the 
the  thing  be  done  quietly." 

"  We  can  chuck  his  body  into  the  river,"  one  said. 

"  Yes,  but  if  it  is  picked  up  with  half  a  dozen  holes  in 
it,  you  may  be  sure  that  they  will  be  down  here,  and  like 
enough  every  man  who  has  used  this  place  will  be  arrested; 
you  know  that  when  there  are  twenty  men  in  a  job  the 
chances  are  that  one  will  slip  his  neck  out  of  the  halter 
by  turning  King's  evidence." 

An  angry  growl  went  round  the  room. 

"  Well,  you  know  well  enough  it  is  so — it  is  always  the 
case;  besides,  we  ought  to  give  him  a  little  time  to  prepare 
himself.  My  idea  is  that  the  best  plan  will  be  to  bind 
and  gag  him  first,  then  we  can  hold  a  little  court  over 
him,  and  let  him  know  what  is  coming.  An  hour  later, 
when  the  place  gets  a  bit  quiet,  we  can  carry  him  down 
to  the  river — it  is  not  above  fifty  yards  away — tie  a  heavy 
weight  round  his  neck,  cut  his  cords  the  last  thing,  and 
chuck  him  over;  if  his  body  is  found;  it  will  be  thought  it 
is  that  of  some  chap  tired  of  life  who  took  pains  to  drown 
himself  pretty  quickly,  and  there  won't  be  any  fuss  over 
him,  and  there  will  be  nothing  to  come  upon  any  of  you 
fellows  for." 

There  was  a  general  murmur  of  assent.  Several  of 
those  present  had  already  committed  themselves  to  some 
extent  with  the  supposed  hawker,  and  were  as  eager  as 
Flash  himself  that  he  should  be  killed;  still,  all  felt  that 
it  was  as  well  that  it  should  be  managed  with  the  least 
possible  risk  of  discovery,  for  while  an  ordinary  man 
qould  be  put  out  of  the  way  without  any  trouble  arising, 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE' S  SECRET.  207 

the  fact  that  he  was  a  Bow  Street  runner  added  enor- 
mously to  the  risk  of  the  discovery  of  his  fate. 

There  was  a  little  talk,  and  then  two  of  the  men  went 
out  and  brought  back  a  couple  of  strong  ropes.  A  few 
minutes  after  their  return  Mark  Thorndyke  came  in.  He 
paused  as  he  entered  the  room,  in  surprise  at  the  silence 
that  reigned,  for  he  was  accustomed  to  be  greeted  with 
friendly  exclamations.  However,  as  he  walked  in,  the 
door  closed,  and  then,  suddenly,  with  shouts  of  "  Down 
with  the  spy!  "  the  men  sprang  from  their  seats  and  made 
a  sudden  rush  at  him.  For  a  minute  the  struggle  was 
tremendous;  man  after  man  went  down  under  Mark's 
blows,  others  clung  onto  him  from  behind,  a  rope  was 
passed  round  his  legs  and  pulled,  and  he  fell  down  with  a 
crash,  bringing  down  five  or  six  of  his  assailants;  a  minute 
later  he  was  gagged  and  bound. 

While  the  struggle  was  going  on  no  one  noticed  that  a 
Lascar's  face  was  pressed  against  the  window;  it  dis- 
appeared as  soon  as  Mark  fell,  and  ten  minutes  later  a 
dark-faced  sailor  ran  into  Gibbons';  it  was  a  quiet  even- 
ing at  Ingleston's,  and  Gibbons,  after  smoking  a  pipe  with 
half  a  dozen  of  the  pugilists,  had  just  returned. 

"  Hallo,"  he  said,  as  he  opened  the  door,  "  what  the 
deuce  do  you  want?  " 

The  man  was  for  a  moment  too  breathless  to  answer. 

"  You  know  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  he  said  at  last,  in  very 
fair  English. 

"  Yes,  I  know  him.     Well,  what  of  him?  " 

"  He  has  been  attacked  by  a  number  of  thieves  in  a 
public-house  near  the  river,  at  Westminster,  and  he  will  be 
murdered  unless  you  go  with  others  to  help  him." 

"What  the  deuce  was  he  doing  there?"  Gibbons  mut- 
tered, and  then,  seizing  his  cap,  said  to  the  Lascar, 
"  Come  along  with  me;  it  aint  likely  that  we  shall  be  in 
time,  but  we  will  try,  anyhow." 

He  ran  to  Ingleston's. 

"Come  along,  Tnglcston,"  he  exclaimed,  "and  all  of 
you.  You  all  know  Mr.  Thorndyke.  This  man  says  he 
has  been  attacked  by  a  gang  down  at  Westminster,  and 
will  be  murdered.  I  am  afraid  we  shan't  be  in  time,  but 
it  is  worth  trying." 


208  COLONEL   TUOENDTKE'S  SECRET. 

The  prizefighters  all  leaped  to  their  feet.  Mark  had 
sparred  with  several  of  them,  and,  being  open-handed  and 
friendly,  was  generally  liked.  In  a  moment,  headed  by 
Ingleston  and  Gibbons,  they  started  at  the  top  of  their 
speed,  and  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  were  at  bank- 
side. 

"  That  is  the  house,"  the  sailor  said,  pointing  to  the 
public,  where  a  red  blind  had  been  lowered  at  the  window, 
and  two  men  lounged  outside  the  door  to  tell  any  chance 
customer  that  might  come  along  he  was  not  wanted  there 
at  present. 

Inside  a  mock  trial  had  been  going  on,  and  Mark  had 
been  sentenced  to  death  as  a  spy,  not  a  voice  being  raised 
in  his  defense.  As  soon  as  he  had  been  lifted  up  and 
seated  so  that  he  could  see  the  faces  of  those  present,  he 
recognized  the  two  gamblers,  and  saw  at  once  that  his 
fate  was  sealed;  even  had  they  not  been  there  the  chance 
of  escape  would  have  been  small.  The  fact  that  one  of 
the  detectives  had  been  caught  under  circumstances  when 
there  was  but  slight  chance  of  its  ever  being  known  how 
he  came  to  his  end,  was  in  itself  sufficient  to  doom  him. 
Several  of  the  men  present  had  taken  him  into  their  con- 
fidence, and  he  had  encouraged  them  to  do  so,  not  that 
he  wanted  to  entrap  them,  or  that  he  intended  to  do  so, 
but  in  order  to  obtain  a  clew  through  them  as  to  the 
hiding-place  of  the  man  he  was  in  search  of. 

The  savage  exultation  on  the  faces  of  the  two  gamblers, 
however,  was  sufficient  to  extinguish  any  ray  of  hope. 
He  felt  sure  at  once  that  they  had  been  the  authors  of 
his  seizure,  and  that  no  thought  of  mercy  would  enter  the 
minds  of  these  two  scoundrels  whose  plans  he  had  frus- 
trated, whose  position  he  had  demolished,  and  to  whom 
he  had  caused  the  loss  of  a  large  sum  of  money.  Neither 
Flash  nor  Emerson  would  have  taken  share  in  a  crime 
known  to  so  many  had  they  not  been  on  the  point  of 
leaving  England.  Their  names  were  known  to  no  one 
there,  and  even  should  some  of  these  afterwards  peach 
they  would  at  least  be  safe.  Mark  had  been  asked 
whether  he  could  deny  that  he  was  a  member  of  the 
detective  force,  and  had  shaken  his  head.  Even  if  he  had 
told  a  lie,  which  he  would  not  do,  the  lie  would  have 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  209 

been  a  useless  one.  No  one  would  have  believed  it,  for 
the  two  gamblers  would  have  been  witnesses  that  he 
was  so. 

He  had  been  placed  in  one  corner  of  the  room,  so  that 
what  light  there  was  would  not  fall  on  his  face,  and  had 
anyone  entered  they  would  not  have  noticed  that  he  was 
gagged.  One,  indeed,  had  suggested  that  it  would  be 
better  to  lay  him  under  one  of  the  benches,  but  Black 
Jim  said,  with  a  brutal  laugh: 

"  No,  no;  it  is  better  that  we  should  keep  sight  of  him, 
and  if  anyone  asks  a  question  of  course  we  can  say  that 
the  gentleman  has  the  toothache." 

Presently  Flash  spoke  to  the  ruffian  in  a  low  voice. 

"  Yes,  I  think  you  are  right,"  he  replied.  "  Look  here," 
he  went  on,  raising  his  voice.  "  There  is  no  occasion  to 
have  such  a  lot  in  this  business;  Jake  Watson,  Bill  the 
Tinker,  and  me  are  quite  enough  to  carry  him  to  his  bed. 
I  reckon  the  rest  had  better  make  themselves  scarce  when 
the  times  comes,  go  home,  and  keep  their  mouths  shut.  I 
need  not  say  that  anyone  who  lets  his  tongue  wag  about 
it  is  likely  to  come  to  a  worse  end  than  this  bloodhound. 
We  will  have  another  glass  of  grog  before  you  turn  out; 
the  streets  won't  be  quiet  for  another  hour  yet,  and  there 
is  another  guinea  of  this  worthy  hawker's  to  be  spent. 
Summers,  make  another  big  bowl  of  punch.  Don't  put  so 
much  water  in  it  as  you  did  in  the  last." 

The  landlord,  a  notorious  ruffian,  was  just  coming  into 
the  room  with  a  huge  bowl  when  there  was  the  sound  of 
a  scuffle  outside. 

"  You  had  better  see  what  is  up,"  Black  Jim  said,  and 
two  of  the  men  nearest  the  door  unbarred  and  opened  it. 
As  they  did  so  there  was  rush,  and  eight  powerful  men 
ran  in,  knocking  to  the  floor  those  who  had  opened  the 
door.  The  rest  sprang  to  their  feet;  Gibbons  looked 
round,  and  as  his  eye  fell  upon  Mark,  who  had,  the  mo- 
ment the  men  inside  rose,  got  into  a  standing  position, 
Gibbons  launched  himself  towards  him,  striking  four  of 
the  ruffians  who  endeavored  to  stop  him  to  the  ground 
with  his  crushing  blows. 

"  This  way,"  he  shouted  to  his  friends.  "  Ingleston  and 
Tring,  do  you  keep  the  door." 


210  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

The  moment  the  six  men  had  closed  round  Mark,  one 
of  them,  taking  out  his  knife,  cut  the  cords,  removed  the 
bandage  from  his  mouth,  and  extricated  the  gag.  The 
name  of  the  two  prizefighters  had  created  something  like 
a  panic  among  the  crowd,  which  had  increased  when  one 
of  them  shouted,  "  It  is  Charley  Gibbons."  Flash  and 
Emerson  sprung  to  their  feet  with  the  rest,  and  the  latter 
shouted,  "  Go  at  them,  men;  there  are  only  eight  of  them, 
and  we  are  twenty.  Knife  them,  or  you  will  all  hang  for 
this  job." 

The  knowledge  of  their  danger  was  evident  to  all  the 
men,  and,  nerved  by  desperation,  they  rushed  at  the  prize- 
fighters; but  the  eight  were  now  nine,  and  each  of  them 
in  a  fray  of  this  kind  was  equal  to  half  a  dozen  ordinary 
men.  Scarce  a  word  was  spoken,  but  the  sound  of  crush- 
ing blows  and  scuffling,  and  an  occasional  oath  made  a 
confused  din  in  the  half-lighted  room.  Mark  burst  his 
Way  through  his  assailants  to  the  spot  where  Flash  and 
Emerson  were  standing,  somewhat  in  the  rear  of  the 
crowd,  for  they  had  been  sitting  at  the  other  end  of  the 
room.  Flash  had  a  pistol  in  his  hand,  but  the  man  who 
was  standing  in  front  of  him  was  struck  with  such  violence 
that  he  fell  backwards,  knocking  Emerson  to  the  ground 
and  almost  upsetting  Flash,  and  before  the  latter  could 
steady  himself  Mark  struck  him  with  all  his  force  under 
the  chin.  A  moment  later  the  landlord  blew  out  the  two 
candles,  and  in  the  darkness  the  ruffians  made  a  dash  for 
the  door,  carried  Tring  and  Ingleston  off  their  feet,  and 
rushed  out  into  the  lane. 

"  If  the  man  who  blew  those  candles  out  don't  light 
them  again  at  once,"  Gibbons  shouted,  "  I,  Charley  Gib- 
bons, tell  him  that  I  will  smash  him  and  burn  this  place 
over  his  head;  he  had  best  be  quick  about  it." 

The  landlord,  cowed  with  the  threat,  soon  returned 
with  a  candle  from  the  kitchen,  and  lit  those  that  he  had 
extinguished. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  we  just  arrived  in  time,  I 
fancy,"  Gibbons  said. 

"  You  have  saved  my  life,  Gibbons — you  and  the  others. 
How  you  got  to  know  that  I  was  here  I  cannot  imagine, 
but  I  should  have  been  a  dead  man  in  another  half-hour 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  211 

if  you  had  not  arrived.  I  thank  you  all  from  the  bottom 
of  my  heart." 

"  That  is  all  right,  sir,"  Gibbons  said.  "  It  is  a  pleasure 
to  give  such  scoundrels  as  these  a  lesson.  Is  anyone  hurt? 
I  fancy  I  have  got  a  scratch  or  two." 

Several  of  the  men  had  been  cut  with  knives,  but  the 
blows  had  been  given  so  hurriedly  that  no  one  was  seri- 
ously injured.     Twelve  men  lay  on  the  ground. 

"  Now  sir,  what  shall  we  do  with  these  fellows?  " 

"  I  should  say  we  had  better  leave  them  alone,  Gibbons. 
I  don't  want  any  row  over  the  affair.  It  is  the  work  of 
these  two  fellows  here.  I  think  I  pretty  well  settled  one 
of  them." 

Gibbons  stooped  over  Flash. 

"  You  have  broken  his  jaw,  sir;  but  he  will  come  round 
in  time.  I  believe  this  other  fellow  is  only  shamming.  I 
don't  see  any  of  our  handiwork  upon  his  face.  The  others 
have  all  got  as  much  as  they  want,  I  think,"  and  taking  a 
candle  he  looked  at  their  faces.  "  There  is  not  one  of 
them  who  will  want  to  show  up  for  a  week  or  so,"  he  said, 
"  and  there  are  two  or  three  who  will  carry  the  marks  to 
their  graves.  Well,  sir,  if  you  don't  want  anything  done 
to  them,  the  sooner  we  are  off  the  better.  Those  fellows 
who  got  away  may  bring  a  lot  of  others  down  upon  us. 
As  long  as  it  is  only  fists,  we  could  march  through  West- 
minster; but  as  they  would  have  knives,  it  is  just  as  weli 
to  get  out  of  it  before  there  is  any  trouble.  You  are  got 
up  in  a  rum  way,  Mr.  Thorndyke." 

"  Yes;  I  will  tell  you  about  it  afterwards.  I  agree  with 
you  that  we  had  best  be  moving  at  once." 

But  the  men  who  had  fled  were  too  glad  to  have  made 
their  escape  to  think  of  anything  but  to  make  for  their 
dens  as  quick  as  possible,  and  the  party  passed  through 
the  lanes  into  the  open  space  in  front  of  Parliament 
House  without  interruption. 

"  We  will  go  i1])  to  your  place,  Ingleston,  and  talk  it 
over  there,"  Mark  said.  "  You  can  get  those  cuts  bound 
up,  and  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  get  a  drink.  That  tiling 
they  shoved  into  my  mouth  hurt  my  tongue  a  good  deal, 
and  I  have  not  gone  through  a  pleasant  half-hour,  I  can 
tell  you." 


212  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

He  walked  up  past  Whitehall  with  Gibbons  and 
Ingleston,  the  others  going  in  pairs,  so  as  not  to  attract 
attention.  As  soon  as  they  reached  Ingleston's  place, 
the  latter  told  the  man  in  the  bar  to  put  the  shutters 
up,  led  the  way  into  the  bar  parlor,  and  mixed  a  large 
bowl  of  punch. 

"  Now,  Gibbons,  in  the  first  place,"  Mark  said,  after 
quenching  his  thirst,  "  how  did  you  know  of  my  being 
in  danger?" 

"  Well,  sir,  a  black  sailor  chap  ran  into  my  place  sud- 
denly and  told  me." 

"  Do  you  mean  a  colored  man,  Gibbons?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  one  of  those  Lascar  chaps  you  see  about  the 
docks.  I  did  not  ask  any  questions,  but  ran  as  hard  as  I 
could.  I  had  only  left  here  five  minutes  before,  and 
knew  that  Tring  and  some  of  the  others  would  still  be 
here.  They  did  not  lose  a  moment,  and  off  we  went. 
The  sailor  chap  he  kept  ahead.  I  tried  to  come  up  to 
him  two  or  three  times  to  get  to  know  something  about 
it,  but  he  always  seemed  to  quicken  his  pace  when  I  was 
coming  up,  and  I  soon  got  too  blown  to  want  to  do 
much  talking.  He  led  us  to  the  door,  and  after  that  I  saw 
nothing  more  of  him.  What  became  of  him  I  don't  know. 
I  expect  he  was  better  at  running  than  he  was  at  fighting." 

"  It  is  curious,"  Mark  said  thoughtfully.  "  He  might 
have  been  in  the  place  when  I  went  in,  and  slipped  out 
while  I  was  making  a  fight  for  it.  I  have  seen  a  Lascar 
several  times  while  I  have  been  down  there.  I  dare  say 
it  was  the  same  man,  though  why  he  should  take  such 
trouble  for  the  sake  of  a  stranger  I  don't  know.  There 
seems  to  be  a  good  many  of  them  about,  for  now  I  think 
of  it,  I  have  run  against  them  several  times  wherever  I 
have  been  in  town." 

"  Now,  sir,  what  did  they  want  to  kill  you  for?  " 

"  Well,  Gibbons,  it  happened  in  this  way.  My  father, 
you  know,  was  murdered  by  a  man  who  had  a  grudge 
against  him,  and  who  is  both  a  highwayman  and  a  house- 
breaker." 

"  They  don't  often  go  together,"  Ingleston  said.  '"  The 
highwaymen  generally  look  down  upon  the  burglars,  and 
keep  themselves  to  themselves." 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  213 

"I  know  they  do,  Ingleston;  but  this  fellow  has  been 
a  convict,  and  is  not  particular  what  he  turns  his  hand 
to.  The  detectives  have  been  after  him  for  a  long  time, 
but  have  failed,  and  I  determined  to  take  the  matter  up 
myself,  and  ever  since  I  have  been  up  here  I  have  been 
hunting  about  in  the  worst  quarters  of  the  town.  The 
people  of  Bow  Street  have  aided  me  in  every  way  they 
could,  and  I  suppose  some  of  these  men  have  seen  me 
go  in  or  out  of  the  place.  Of  course,  when  I  am  going 
into  these  bad  quarters,  I  put  on  a  disguise  and  manage 
to  get  in  with  some  of  these  thieves,  and  so  to  try  to  get 
news  of  him  through  them.  Three  weeks  ago  I  decided 
to  try  Westminster.  I  was  getting  on  uncommonly  well 
there,  principally  because  I  gave  a  tremendous  thrashing 
to  a  fellow  they  call  Black  Jim.  He  has  been  a  prize- 
fighter." 

"I  know  him,"  Tring  said;  "it 'was  the  fellow  that 
was  kicked  out  for  selling  a  fight.  He  was  not  a  bad 
man  with  his  fists,  either;  but  I  expect  you  astonished 
him,  Mr.  Thorndyke." 

"  Yes,  I  knocked  him  out  of  time  in  three  rounds. 
Well,  he  has  been  a  bully  down  there,  and  everyone  was 
very  glad  he  was  taken  down.  After  that  I  got  to  know 
several  of  the  worst  lot  down  there.  They  fancied  that  I 
was  one  of  themselves,  and  several  of  them  made  proposals 
to  me  to  join  them,  and,  of  course,  I  encouraged  the 
idea  in  hopes  of  coming  upon  the  man  that  I  was  after. 
Then  some  fellow  in  the  street  recognized  me,  I  suppose, 
and  denounced  me  to  the  rest  as  being  one  of  the  runners. 
I  suppose  he  told  them  this  evening,  before  I  went  in. 

"  The  place  was  a  regular  thieves'  den,  which,  of  course, 
was  why  I  went  there.  Naturally  they  were  furious, 
especially  those  who  had  been  proposing  to  me  to  join 
them.  Anyhow,  they  had  evidently  settled  among  them- 
selves that  I  was  to  be  put  out  of  the  way,  and  directly 
I  went  in  I  was  attacked.  I  knocked  down  a  few  of  them, 
but  they  jumped  on  my  back,  and  one  of  them  managed 
to  get  a  rope  round  my  legs,  and  down  I  went  with  three 
or  four  of  them,  and  before  I  could  get  up  again  they 
had  tied  and  gagged  me.  Then  they  held  a  sort  of 
court.     Man  after  man  got  up  and  said  that  I  had  been 


214  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

drawing  them  on  to  find  out  what  they  were  up  to,  and 
had  agreed  to  join  them,  of  course  with  the  intention  of 
getting  them  caught  in  the  act,  and  two  got  up  and  said 
that  they  knew  me  as  one  of  the  runners.  They  all 
agreed  that  I  must  be  put  out  of  the  way. 

"  I  suppose,  as  the  landlord  did  not  want  blood  spilt  in 
his  house,  they  did  not  knife  me  at  once;  however,  they 
told  me  that  they  had  decided  that  as  soon  as  the  coast 
was  clear  I  should  be  carried  down  to  the  river,  and 
chucked  in,  with  an  old  anchor  tied  to  my  neck.  I  had 
just  a  gleam  of  hope  a  short  time  before  you  came  in, 
for  then  it  had  been  settled  that  it  was  just  as  well  no 
more  should  be  engaged  in  the  affair  than  was  necessary, 
and  that  Black  Jim,  with  two  others,  whom  I  had  been 
talking  to,  and  the  two  men  who  had  told  them  that  I 
was  a  runner,  should  manage  it,  and  the  rest  were  to  go 
off  to  their  homes. 

"  I  had  been  all  the  time  trying  to  loosen  my  ropes., 
and  had  got  one  of  my  hands  nearly  free,  and  I  thought 
that  if  they  waited  another  half-hour  I  might  have  got 
them  both  free,  and  been  able  to  make  a  bit  of  a  fight 
of  it,  though  I  had  very  little  hope  of  getting  my  legs 
free. 

*'  However,  I  had  my  eye  on  the  knife  of  the  man  who 
was  fitting  next  to  me,  and  who  was  one  of  those  who  was 
to  stay.  I  thought  that  if  I  had  my  hands  free,  I  could 
snatch  his  knife,  settle  him,  and  then  cut  the  ropes  from 
my  legs;  that  done,  I  could,  I  think,  have  managed 
Black  Jim  and  the  others.  As  for  the  men  who  de- 
nounced me,  they  were  small  men,  and  I  had  no  fear  of 
them  in  a  fight,  unless,  as  I  thought  likely  enough,  they 
might  have  pistols.  One  of  them  is  the  fellow  whose 
jaw  I  broke;  I  hit  him  hard,  for  he  had  a  pistol  in  his 
hand." 

"  There  is  no  doubt  you  hit  him  hard,"  Gibbons  said 
dryly.     "  He  looked  a  better  sort  than  the  rest." 

"  Yes,  the  fellow  was  a  card-sharper  whom  I  once 
detected  at  cheating;  and  so  was  the  one  who  was  lying 
next  to  him,  the  man  whom  you  said  you  thought  was 
shamming." 

By  this  time  the  men's  wounds  were  all  bandaged  up. 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  815 

Mark  told  them  that  he  would  be  round  there  again  in 
the  morning,  and  hoped  that  they  would  all  be  there. 

"  I  shall  go  home  at  once,  and  turn  in,"  he  said. 
"  Straining  at  those  cords  has  taken  the  skin  off  my 
wrists,  and  I  feel  stiff  all  over;  it  will  be  a  day  or  two, 
Gibbons,  before  I  am  able  to  put  the  gloves  on  again. 
I  wish  I  could  find  that  Lascar;  I  owe  him  a  heavy  debt." 

As  Mark  made  his  way  home  he  thought  a  good  deal 
about  the  colored  sailor.  If  the  man  had  been  in  the 
den  the  ruffians  would  hardly  have  ventured  to  have 
attacked  him  in  the  presence  of  a  stranger.  Of  course, 
he  might  have  been  passing,  and  have  seen  the  fray 
through  the  window,  but  in  that  case  he  would  run  to 
the  nearest  constable.  How  could  he  know  anything 
about  his  habits,  and  why  should  he  have  gone  to  Gibbons 
for  assistance?  That,  and  the  fact  that  he  had  so  often 
observed  Lascars  in  the  places  he  had  gone  to,  certainly 
looked  as  if  he  had  been  watched,  and  if  so,  it  could  only 
be  connected  with  those  diamonds.  It  was  a  curious 
thing  altogether. 

The  next  morning  he  went  early  to  Bow  Street.  Aa 
soon  as  the  chief  came  he  related  the  events  of  the 
previous  evening,  and  told  him  that  it  was  Plash  and 
Emerson  who  had  denounced  him. 

"  I  know  the  place,"  the  officer  said.  "  It  is  one  of 
the  worst  thieves'  den  in  London.  However,  it  is  just  as 
well  you  decided  not  to  take  any  steps.  Of  course,  all 
the  fellows  would  have  sworn  that  they  did  not  intend 
to  do  any  harm,  but  that  Flash  had  put  them  up  to 
frightening  you,  and  I  doubt  whether  any  jury  would 
have  convicted.  As  to  the  other  men,  we  know  that  they 
are  all  thieves,  and  some  of  them  worse;  but  the  mere  fact 
that  they  proposed  to  you  to  join  in  their  crimes  won't 
do,  as  no  actual  crime  was  committed.  However,  I  shall 
have  the  gang  closely  watched,  and,  at  any  rate,  you  had 
better  leave  Westminster  alone;  someone  else  must  take 
up  the  work  of  looking  for  that  man  you  were  on  the 
watch  for.  Anyhow,  you  had  best  take  a  week's  rest; 
there  is  no  doubt  you  have  had  a  very  narrow  escape.  It 
is  strange  about  that  Lascar;  he  might  not  have  cared 
for  going  in  to  take  part  in  the  fray,  but  you  would  have 


216  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

thought  that  he  would  have  waited  outside  to  get  a 
reward  for  bringing  those  men  to  your  rescue." 

As  Mark  did  not  care  to  tell  about  the  diamonds  till 
the  time  came  for  getting  them,  he  made  no  reply, 
beyond  expressing  an  agreement  with  the  chief's  surprise 
at  the  man  not  having  remained  to  the  end  of  the  fray. 
On  leaving  Bow  Street  he  went  up  to  Ingleston's.  The 
men  who  had  rescued  him  the  night  before  were  gathered 
there;  and  he  presented  each  of  them  with  a  check  for 
twenty-five  guineas. 

"  I  know  very  well,"  he  said,  "  that  you  had  no  thought 
of  reward  when  you  hurried  down  to  save  me,  but  that 
is  no  reason  why  I  should  not  show  my  gratitude  to  you 
for  the  service  you  have  rendered  me;  some  of  you  might 
very  well  have  been  seriously  hurt,  if  not  killed,  by  their 
knives.  At  any  rate,  I  insist  upon  you  taking  it;  money 
is  always  useful,  you  know,  and  it  is  not  often  so  well 
earned  as  this." 

The  men  were  greatly  pleased,  and  Tring  said: 

"  Well,  sir,  if  you  get  into  another  scrape  you  may  be 
sure  that  you  can  count  upon  us." 

"  I  shall  try  and  not  get  into  any  more,"  Mark  laughed. 
"  This  has  been  a  good  deal  more  serious  than  I  ha8 
bargained  for,  and  I  shall  be  very  careful  in  the  future." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

"  The  burglary  season  seems  to  have  recommenced  in 
earnest,"  Mark's  chief  said  some  nine  months  after  he  had 
been  at  work.  "  For  a  time  there  had  been  a  lull,  as  you 
know,  but  I  have  had  three  reports  this  week,  and  it 
strikes  me  that  they  are  by  the  same  hand  as  before;  of 
course  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  they  are  done  in  a  similar 
way,  the  only  difference  being  that  there  is  ground  for 
believing  that  only  one  man  is  engaged  in  them.  I  fancy 
the  fellow  that  you  are  after  has  either  been  away  from 
London  for  some  time,  or  has  been  keeping  very  quiet. 
At  any  rate,  we  have  every  ground  for  believing  that  he 
keeps  himself  aloof  from  London  thieves,  which  is  what  I 
should  expect  from  such  a  man.  If  one  has  nerve  enough 
to  do  it,  there  is  nothing  like  working  singly;  when  two 
or  three  men  are  engaged,  there  is  always  the  risk  of  one 
being  caught  and  turning  Queen's  evidence,  or  of  there 
being  a  quarrel,  and  of  his  peaching  from  revenge. 

"  If  your  man  has  been  away  from  town,  he  has 
certainly  not  been  working  any  one  district;  of  course, 
one  gets  the  usual  number  of  reports  from  different 
quarters;  but  although  burglaries  are  frequent  enough, 
there  has  been  no  Complaint  of  a  sudden  increase  of  such 
crimes  as  there  would  have  been  judging  from  the  numer- 
ous daring  attempts  here,  had  Bastow  been  concerned; 
therefore  I  feel  sure  that  he  has  been  living  quietly.  He 
would  have  his  mate's  share — that  man  you  shot,  you 
know — of  the  plunder  they  made  together;  he  would  know 
that  after  that  affair  at  your  place  there  would  be  a 
vigilant  hunt  for  him,  and  it  is  likely  enough  that  he  has 
retired  altogether  from  business  for  a  time. 

"  However,  men  of  that  sort  can  never  stand  a  quiet 
life  long,  and  are  sure  sooner  or  later  to  take  to  their 
trade  again,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  its  excitement.  Now 
that  the  burglaries  have  begun  again,. I  shall  be  glad  if 

9X7 


218  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

you  will  devote  yourself  entirely  to  this  business.  You 
have  served  a  good  apprenticeship,  and  for  our  sake  as 
well  as  yours  I  should  be  glad  for  you  to  have  it  in 
hand." 

"  I  shall  be  very  pleased  to  do  so,  sir.  Although  we 
do  not  know  where  he  is  to  be  found,  I  think  I  can  say 
that  it  is  not  in  the  slums  of  London;  it  seems  to  me 
that  he  may  be  quietly  settled  as  an  eminently  respectable 
man  almost  under  our  noses;  he  may  show  himself  occa- 
sionally at  fashionable  resorts,  and  may  be  a  regular 
attendant  at  horse-races. 

"  He  would  not  run  any  appreciable  risk  in  doing  so, 
for  his  face  is  quite  unknown  to  anyone  except  the  con- 
stables who  were  present  at  his  trial,  and  even  these  would 
scarcely  be  likely  to  recognize  him,  for  he  was  then  but 
eighteen,  while  he  is  now  six  or  seven  and  twenty,  and 
no  doubt  the  life  he  has  led  must  have  changed  him 
greatly." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you,"  the  chief  said.  "  After  the 
first  hunt  for  him  was  over,  he  might  do  almost  anything 
without  running  much  risk.  Well,  I  put  the  matter  in 
your  hands,  and  leave  it  to  you  to  work  out  in  your  own 
way;  you  have  given  ample  proof  of  your  shrewdness  and 
pluck,  and  in  this  case  especially  I  know  that  you  will 
do  everything  that  is  possible.  Of  course  you  will  be 
relieved  of  all  other  duties,  and  if  takes  you  months 
before  you  can  lay  hands  upon  him,  we  shall  consider  it 
time  well  spent,  if  you  succeed  at  last.  From  time  to 
time  change  your  quarters,  but  let  me  know  your  address, 
so  that,  should  I  learn  anything  that  may  be  useful,  I  can 
communicate  with  you  at  once.  You  had  better  take 
another  name  than  that  by  which  you  are  known  in  the 
force.  I  shall  be  glad  if,  after  thinking  the  matter  over, 
you  will  write  me  a  few  lines  stating  what  you  propose 
to  do  in  the  first  place." 

Mark  went  back  to  his  lodgings,  and  sat  there  for  some 
time,  thinking  matters  over.  His  first  thought  was  to 
attend  the  races  for  a  time,  but  seeing  the  number  of 
people  there,  and  his  own  ignorance  of  Bastow's  appear- 
ance, he  abandoned  the  idea,  and  determined  to  try  a 
slower  but  more  methodical  plan.     After  coming  to  that 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  219 

conclusion  he  put  on  his  hat  and  made  his  way  to  Mrs. 
Cunningham's. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Constable,"  Millicent  said  saucily,  as  he 
entered,  "  any  fresh  captures?  " 

"  No,  I  think  that  I  have  for  the  present  done  with 
that  sort  of  thing;  I  have  served  my  apprenticeship,  and 
am  now  setting  up  on  my  own  account." 

"How  is  that,  Mark?" 

"  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Bastow  has  begun  his 
work  again  near  London.  As  I  have  told  you,  it  is 
absolutely  certain  that  he  is  not  hiding  in  any  of  the 
places  frequented  by  criminals  here,  and  there  is  every 
reason  for  supposing  that  he  has  been  leading  a  quiet  life 
somewhere,  or  that  he  has  been  away  in  the  country.  As 
long  as  that  was  the  case,  there  was  nothing  to  be 
done;  but  now  that  he  seems  to  have  set  to  work  again, 
it  is  time  for  me  to  be  on  the  move.  I  have  seen  the 
chief  this  morning,  and  he  has  released  me  from  all  other 
duty,  and  given  me  carte  blanche  to  work  in  my  own 
way." 

"  Then  why  don't  you  leave  the  force  altogether,  Mark? 
You  know  that  I  have  always  thought  it  hateful  that  you 
should  be  working  under  orders,  like  any  other  constable." 

"  Of  course,  women  don't  like  to  •  be  under  orders, 
Millicent;  but  men  are  not  so  independent,  and  are  quite 
content  to  obey  those  who  are  well  qualified  to  give  orders. 
I  have  had  a  very  interesting  time  of  it." 

"  Very  interesting!  "  she  said  scornfully.  "  You  have 
nearly  been  killed  or  shot  half  a  dozen  times;  you  have 
been  obliged  to  wear  all  sorts  of  dirty  clothes,  to  sleep 
in  places  where  one  would  not  put  a  dog,  and  generally 
to  do  all  sorts  of  things  altogether  unbecoming  in  your 
position." 

"  My  dear,  I  have  no  particular  position,"  he  laughed, 
and  then  went  on  more  seriously:  "  My  one  position  at 
present  is  that  of  avenger  of  my  father's  murder,  and 
n»thing  that  can  assist  me  in  the  task  is  unbecoming  to 
me;  but,  as  I  said,  it  has  been  interesting,  I  may  almost 
say  fascinating,  work.  I  used  to  be  fond  of  hunting,  but 
T  can  tell  you  that  it  is  infinitely  more  exciting  to  hunt  a 
man  than  it  is  to  hunt  a  fox.     You  are  your  own  hound,. 


220  COLONEL  TIIORNDYEE'S  SECRET. 

you  have  to  pick  up  the  scent,  to  follow  it  up,  however 
much  the  quarry  may  wind  and  double,  and  when  at 
last  you  lay  your  hand  upon  his  shoulder  and  say,  '  In 
the  King's  name/  there  is  an  infinitely  keener  pleasure 
than  there  is  when  the  hounds  run  down  the  fox.  One 
sport  is  perhaps  as  dangerous  as  the  other:  in  the  one 
case  your  horse  may  fail  at  a  leap  and  you  may  break 
your  neck,  in  the  other  you  may  get  a  bullet  in  your 
head;  so  in  that  respect  there  is  not  much  to  choose 
between  man  and  fox  hunting.  There  is  the  advantage, 
though,  that  in  the  one  you  have  to  depend  upon  your 
horse's  strength,  and  in  the  other  on  your  own  courage." 

"  I  know  that  you  are  an  enthusiast  over  it,  Mark, 
and  I  can  fancy  that  if  I  were  a  big  strong  man,  as  you 
are,  I  might  do  the  same;  but  if  you  are  going  now  to 
try  by  yourself,  why  should  you  not  leave  the  force  alto- 
gether ?  " 

"  Because,  in  the  first  place,  I  shall  get  all  the  informa- 
tion they  obtain,  and  can  send  for  any  assistance  that  I 
may  require.  In  the  next  place,  by  showing  this  little  staff 
with  its  silver  crown,  I  show  that  I  am  a  Bow  Street  run- 
ner, and  can  obtain  information  at  once  from  all  sorts  of 
people  which  I  could  not  get  without  its  aid." 

"  Well,  I  won't  say  anything  more  against  it,  Mark. 
How  are  you  going  to  begin?  " 

"  I  mean  to  go  the  round  of  all  the  places  near  London 
— say,  within  ten  miles.  I  shall  stay  from  a  week  to  a 
fortnight  in  each,  take  a  quiet  lodging,  give  out  that  I 
am  on  the  lookout  for  a  small  house  with  a  garden,  and 
get  to  talk  with  people  of  all  kinds." 

"  But  I  cannot  see  what  you  have  to  inquire  for." 

"  I  imagine  that  Bastow  will  have  taken  just  the  sort 
of  house  that  I  am  inquiring  for,  and  in  the  course  of 
my  questions  I  may  hear  of  someone  living  in  just  that 
sort  of  way — a  retired  life,  not  making  many  friends, 
going  up  to  London  sometimes,  and  keeping,  perhaps,  a 
deaf  old  woman  as  a  servant,  or  perhaps  a  deaf  old  man — 
someone,  you  see,  who  would  not  be  likely  to  hear  him  if 
he  came  home  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  or  in  the  early 
morning.  Once  I  hear  of  such  a  man,  I  should  ascertain 
his  age,  and  whether  generally  he  agreed  in  appearance 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  221 

with  what  Bastow  is  likely  to  be  by  this  time,  then  get 
down  one  of  the  constables  who  was  at  the  trial,  and  take 
his  opinion  on  the  subject,  after  which  we  should  only 
have  to  watch  the  house  at  night  and  pounce  upon  him 
as  he  came  back  from  one  of  his  excursions.  That  is  the 
broad  outline  of  my  plan.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that 
in  the  long  run  I  shall  be  able  to  trace  him,  and  of  course 
it  will  make  it  all  the  easier  if  he  takes  to  stopping 
coaches  or  committing  murderous  burglaries." 

"  Then  I  suppose  we  are  not  going  to  see  you  often,. 
Mark?" 

"  Well,  not  so  often  as  you  have  done,  Millicent,  for 
some  time,  at  any  rate.  I  shall  not  be  more  than  five 
or  six  miles  away,  and  I  shall  often  ride  into  town  for 
the  evening,  and  return  late  with  some  sort  of  hope  that 
I  may  be  stopped  on  the  road  again;  it  would  save  me 
a  world  of  trouble,  you  see,  if  he  would  come  to  me 
instead  of  my  having  to  find  him." 

"  Which  side  of  London  are  you  going  to  try  first  ?  " 

"  The  south  side,  certainly;  there  are  a  score  of  places 
that  would  be  convenient  to  him — Dulwich,  Clapham, 
Tooting,  Wimbledon,  Stockwell;  the  list  is  a  long  one. 
I  should  say  Wimbledon  was  about  the  most  distant,  and 
I  should  think  that  he  would  not  go  so  far  as  that;  if  he 
only  acted  as  a  highwayman  he  might  be  as  far  off  as 
Epsom;  but  if  he  is  really  the  man  concerned  in  these 
burglaries  he  must  be  but  a  short  distance  away.  He 
would  hardly  risk  having  to  ride  very  far  with  the 
chance  of  coming  upon  the  patrols.  I  think  that  I  shall 
begin  at  Peckham;  that  is  a  central  sort  of  position,  and 
from  there  I  shall  work  gradually  west;  before  I  do  so 
perhaps  I  shall  try  Lewisham.  He  is  likely,  in  any  case, 
to  be  quite  on  the  outskirts  of  any  village  he  may  have 
settled  in,  in  order  that  he  may  ride  in  and  out  at  any 
hour  without  his  coming  and  going  being  noticed." 

"  You  certainly  seem  to  have  thought  it  over  in  all 
ways,  Mark;  you  almost  infect  me  with  your  ardor,  and 
make  me  wish  that  I  was  a  man  and  could  help  you." 

"  You  are  much  nicer  as  you  are,  Millicent." 

The  girl  tossed  her  head  in  disdain  at  the  compliment. 

"  It  is  all  very  well,  Mark,"  she  went  on,  ignoring  his 


222  COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

speech,  "  but  it  seems  to  me  that  in  finding  out  things  a 
woman  would  be  able  to  do  just  as  much  as  a  man;  she  can. 
gossip  with  her  neighbors  and  ask  about  everyone  in  a 
place  quite  as  well,  if  not  better,  than  a  man." 

"Yes,  I  don't  doubt  that,"  Mark  laughed,  "and  if  I 
want  your  aid  I  shall  have  no  hesitation  in  asking  for  it. 
Until  then  I  hope  you  will  go  on  with  your  painting  and 
harping  steadily,  like  a  good  little  girl." 

"  I  am  nearly  eighteen,  sir,  and  I  object  to  be  called  a 
good  little  girl." 

"  Well,  if  I  were  to  say  a  good  young  woman  you  would 
not  like  it." 

"  No,  I  don't  think  I  should.  I  don't  know  why,  but 
when  anyone  says  a  girl  is  a  good  young  woman  or  a  nice 
young  woman,  there  always  seems  something  derogatory 
about  it;  it  is  almost  as  bad  as  saying  she  is  a  very 
respectable  young  person,  which  is  odious." 

"  Then,  you  see,"  he  went  on,  "  you  are  quite  getting 
on  in  society;  since  Mr.  Cotter's  introduction  to  Mrs. 
Cunningham  and  his  mother's  subsequent  call  you  have 
got  to  know  a  good  many  people  and  go  about  a  good 
deal." 

"  Yes,  it  has  been  more  lively  of  late,"  she  admitted. 
"At  first  it  was  certainly  monstrously  dull  here,  and  I 
began  to  think  that  we  should  have  to  change  our  plans 
and  go  down  again  to  Weymouth,  and  settle  there  for  a 
time.  Now  I  am  getting  contented;  but  I  admit,  even  at 
the  risk  of  making  you  conceited,  that  we  shall  certainly 
miss  you  very  much,  as  you  have  been  very  good,  con- 
sidering how  busy  }rou  have  been,  to  come  in  three  or  four 
evenings  every  week  for  a  chat." 

"  There  has  been  nothing  very  good  about  it,  Millicent; 
it  has  been  very  pleasant  to  me;  it  is  like  a  bit  of  old  times 
again  when  I  am  here  with  you  two,  and  seem  to  leave  all 
the  excitement  of  one's  work  behind  as  I  come  in  at  the 
door." 

"  I  wonder  whether  the  old  time  will  ever  come  back 
again,  Mark?  "  she  said  sadly. 

"  It  never  can  be  quite  the  old  time  again,  but  when 
vou  are  back  at  the  old  place  it  may  be  very  near  it." 

She  looked  at  him  reproachfully. 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  223 

"You  think  that  I  shall  change  my  mind,. Mark,  but 
at  heart  you  know  better.  The  day  I  am  one-and-twenty 
I  hope  to  carry  out  my  intentions." 

"  Well,  as  I  have  told  you  before,  Millicent,  I  cannot 
control  your  actions,  but  I  am  at  least  master  of  my  own. 
You  can  give  away  Crowswood  to  whom  you  like,  but 
at  least  you  cannot  compel  me  to  take  it.  Make  it  over 
to  one  of  the  hospitals  if  you  like — that  is  within  your 
power;  but  it  is  not  in  your  power  to  force  me  into  the 
mean  action  of  enriching  myself  because  you  have  roman- 
tic notions  in  your  mind.  I  should  scorn  myself  were 
I  capable  of  doing  such  an  action.  I  wonder  you  think 
so  meanly  of  me  as  to  suppose  for  a  moment  that  I  would 
do  so." 

"  It  is  a  great  pity  my  father  did  not  leave  the  property 
outright  to  your  father,  then  all  this  bother  would  have 
been  avoided,"  she  said  quietly.  "  I  should  still  have  had 
plenty  to  live  upon  without  there  being  any  fear  of  being 
loved  merely  for  my  money." 

"  It  would  have  been  the  same  thing  if  he  had,"  Mark 
said  stubbornly.  "  My  father  would  not  have  taken  it, 
and  I  am  sure  that  I  should  not  have  taken  it  after  him; 
you  are  his  proper  heiress.  I  don't  say  if  he  had  left  a 
son,  and  that  son  had  been  a  second  Bastow,  that  one 
would  have  hesitated,  for  he  would  probably  have  gambled 
it  away  in  a  year,  the  tenants  might  have  been  ruined, 
and  the  village  gone  to  the  dogs.  Every  man  has  a  right 
to  disinherit  an  unworthy  son,  but  that  is  a  very  different 
thing  from  disinheriting  a  daughter  simply  from  a  whim. 
Well,  don't  let  us  talk  about  it  any  more,  Millicent.  It 
is  the  only  thing  that  we  don't  agree  about,  and  therefore 
it  is  best  left  alone." 

The  next  day  Mark  established  himself  at  an  inn  in 
Peckham,  and  for  six  weeks  made  diligent  inquiries,  but 
without  success.  There  were  at  least  a  dozen  men  who 
lived  quietly  and  rode  or  drove  to  their  business  in  town. 
Many  of  them  were  put  aside  as  needing  no  investigation, 
having  been  residents  there  for  years.  Some  of  the  others 
he  saw  start  or  return,  but  none  of  them  corresponded 
in  any  way  with  the  probable  appearance  of  the  man  for 
whom  he  was  in  search.     During  this  time  he  heard  of 


224  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

several  private  coaches  being  held  up  on  the  road  between 
Epsom  and  London,  and  three  burglaries  took  place  at 
Streatham. 

He  then  moved  to  Stockwell.  Before  proceeding  there 
he  had  his  horse  up  again  from  Crowswood,  and  rode  into 
Stockwell  from  the  west.  He  was  dressed  now  as  a  small 
country  squire,  and  had  a  valise  strapped  behind  his 
saddle.     The  inn  there  was  a  busy  one. 

"  I  want  a  room,"  he  said,  as  he  alighted.  "  I  shall 
probably  stay  here  a  few  days." 

Presently  he  had  a  talk  with  the  landlord. 

"  I  am  on  the  lookout,"  he  said,  "  for  a  little  place 
near  town.  I  have  come  in  for  a  small  estate  in  the 
country,  but  I  have  no  taste  for  farming,  and  want  to 
he  within  easy  reach  of  town,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
have  a  place  with  a  paddock  where  I  can  keep  my  horse 
and  live  quietly.  I  don't  much  care  whether  it  is  here 
or  anywhere  else  within  a  few  miles  of  town,  and  I  intend 
to  ride  about  and  see  if  I  can  find  a  place  that  will  suit 
me.  I  do  not  want  to  be  nearer  the  town  than  this,  for  I 
have  not  money  enough  to  go  the  pace;  still,  I  should  like 
to  be  near  enough  to  ride  or  walk  in  whenever  I  have  a 
fancy  for  it." 

"  I  understand,  sir.  Of  course  there  are  plenty  of 
places  round  here,  at  Clapham  and  Tooting,  and  I  may 
say  Streatham,  but  most  of  them  are  a  deal  too  large  for 
a  bachelor,  still  I  have  no  doubt  you  would  find  a  place 
to  suit  you  without  much  difficulty.  These  sort  of  places 
are  most  in  request  by  London  tradesmen  who  have  given 
up  business  and  want  to  get  a  little  way  out  of  town  and 
keep  a  gig.  I  should  say  there  must  be  a  score  of  such 
people  living  round  here.  I  am  often  asked  about  such 
places,  but  I  don't  know  of  one  to  let  just  at  the  present 
moment. 

"  Still,  there  ought  to  be,  for  of  late  people  have  not 
cared  so  much  to  come  out  here;  there  has  been  such  a 
scare  owing  to  highwaymen  and  burglars,  that  men  with 
wives  and  families  don't  fancy  settling  out  of  town, 
though  there  aint  much  work  about  it,  for  to  every  one 
house  that  is  broken  into  there  are  thousands  that  are 
not,  and  besides,  the  houses  that  these  fellows  try  are 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  225 

large  places,  where  there  is  plenty  of  silver  plate  and  a 
few  gold  watches,  and  perhaps  some  money  to  be  had." 

Mark  soon  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  stablemen, 
and  a  few  pints  of  beer  put  them  on  good  terms  with 
him.  Every  day  he  took  rides  round  the  neighborhood, 
going  out  early,  stabling  his  horse,  and  after  having  a 
chat  with  the  ostlers,  strolling  round  the  place.  Clap- 
ham,  Ewell,  and  Streatham  were  also  visited. 

"  I  know  of  a  place  that  would  just  suit  you/'  the 
ostler  at  the  Greyhound  at  Streatham  said  to  him,  on 
the  occasion  of  his  third  visit  there,  "  but  it  is  let;  my 
old  mother  is  the  gentleman's  housekeeper.  He  took  the 
place  through  me,  for  he  rode  up  just  as  you  have  done, 
one  afternoon,  nigh  a  year  ago.  He  was  from  town,  he 
was;  he  told  me  that  he  had  been  going  the  pace  too 
hard,  and  had  to  pull  in,  and  wanted  a  little  place  where 
he  could  keep  his  horse  and  live  quiet  for  a  time.  I  told 
him  of  a  place  that  I  thought  would  suit  him  just  outside 
the  town,  and  he  called  in  the  next  day  and  told  me  he  had 
taken  it.  '  Now/  he  said,  '  I  want  a  woman  as  house- 
keeper; an  old  woman,  you  know.  I  cannot  be  bothered 
with  a  young  one.  If  you  speak  a  civil  word  to  a  wench 
she  soon  fancies  you  are  in  love  with  her.  I  want  one 
who  can  cook  a  chop  or  a  steak,  fry  me  a  bit  of  bacon,  and 
boil  an  egg  and  keep  the  place  tidy.  I  intend  to  look 
after  my  horse  myself.' 

" '  Well,  sir/  I  said,  '  there  is  my  old  mother.  She  is 
a  widow,  and  it  is  as  much  as  she  can  do  to  keep  off  the 
parish.  She  is  reckoned  a  tidy  cook  and  a  good  cleaner, 
and  she  could  keep  herself  well  enough  if  it  wasn't  that 
she  is  so  hard  of  hearing  that  many  people  don't  care  to 
employ  her.' 

"  '  I  don't  care  a  rap  about  that/  he  said.  '  I  shall  not 
need  to  talk  to  her  except  to  tell  her  what  I  will  have  for 
dinner,  and  if  she  is  deaf  she  won't  want  to  be  away 
gossiping.     Does  she  live  near  here? ' 

"  '  She  lives  in  the  town/  I  said.  '  I  can  fetch  her  down 
in  half  an  hour.' 

" '  That  will  do/  says  he.  '  I  am  going  to  have  lunch. 
When  I  have  done  I  will  come  out  and  speak  with  her.' 

"  Well,  sir,  he  engaged  her  right  off,  and  he  tipped  me 


226  COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

a  guinea  for  finding  the  place  for  him,  and  there  he  has 
been  ever  since.  It  was  a  lucky  job  for  mother,  for  she 
says  there  never  was  a  gentleman  that  gave  less  trouble. 
He  is  wonderful  quiet  man,  and  in  general  stops  at 
home  all  the  day  smoking  and  reading.  He  has  a  boy 
comes  in  two  or  three  times  a  week  to  work  in  the  garden. 
Sometimes  of  an  evening  he  rides  up  to  town.  I  expect 
he  cannot  keep  away  from  the  cards  altogether." 

"  Is  he  an  elderly  man?  "  Mark  asked. 

"  Lor',  no,  sir;  under  thirty,  I  should  say.  He  is  a  free- 
handed sort  of  chap,  and  though  he  aint  particular  about 
his  eating,  he  likes  a  bottle  of  good  wine,  the  old  woman 
says,  even  if  it  is  only  with  a  chop.  He  never  rides  past 
here  and  I  happen  to  be  outside  without  tossing  me  a 
shilling  to  drink  his  health." 

Mark  went  into  the  house  and  ordered  lunch.  It  would 
not  have  done  to  have  asked  any  more  questions  or  to 
have  shown  any  special  interest  in  the  matter,  but  he  felt 
so  excited  that  he  could  not  have  avoided  doing  so  had 
he  waited  longer  with  the  ostler.  After  he  had  finished 
his  meal  he  strolled  out  again  into  the  stable  yard. 

"  Well,"  he  said  to  the  ostler,  "  can't  you  put  me  up  to 
another  good  thing,  just  as  you  told  that  gentleman  you 
were  speaking  to  me  about  ?  " 

"  There  are  two  or  three  places  that  I  know  of  that 
might  suit  you,  sir.  There  is  a  house  on  the  hill.  I 
know  that  it  has  got  a  paddock,  but  I  don't  know  how 
big  it  is;  it  is  in  general  known  as  Hawleys — that  is  the 
name  of  the  last  people  who  lived  there.  Anyone  will 
tell  you  which  is  the  house.  Then  there  is  another  place. 
You  turn  to  the  right  the  third  turning  on  the  hill;  it 
stands  by  itself  two  or  three  hundred  yards  down;  it  has 
got  a  goodish  bit  of  ground.  There  is  only  one  house 
beyond  it;  that  is  the  one  where  my  mother  lives.  That 
was  an  old  farm  once,  but  this  was  built  later.  I  believe 
the  ground  belonged  to  the  farm.  You  will  know  it  by  a 
big  tree  in  front  of  it;  it  stands  back  forty  feet  or  so  from 
the  road." 

"  Where  does  the  road  lead  to?  " 

"  Well,  sir,  it  aint  much  of  a  road  beyond  the  next 
house;  it  is  only  a  lane,  but  you  can  get  through  that  way 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  227 

into  the  main  road,  through  Tooting  down  into  Balham, 
and  on  to  Wimbledon." 

"  I  think  I  will  go  and  have  a  look  at  both  those  places/' 
Mark  said. 

"  Will  you  take  your  horse,  sir?  " 

"  ~No;  I  suppose  it  is  not  much  above  half  a  mile?  " 

«  About  that,  sir." 

"  Then  I  will  walk;  I  shall  not  be  likely  to  find  anyone 
to  hold  my  horse  there." 

Mark  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  the  house.  It  looked 
as  if  it  had  been  untenanted  for  some  time,  and  in  the 
window  was  a  notice  that  for  keys  and  information  appli- 
cations were  to  be  made  at  a  shop  in  the  High  Street. 
Well  pleased  to  find  that  there  was  no  one  in  the  house, 
Mark  entered  the  gate  and  passed  round  into  what  at  one 
time  had  been  a  kitchen  garden  behind  it;  at  the  bottom 
of  this  was  a  field  of  three  or  four  acres. 

The  ground  was  separated  by  a  hedge  from  that  of 
the  house  beyond.  This  was  fully  a  hundred  yards  away. 
A  well-bred  horse  was  grazing  in  the  field,  a  man  smoking 
a  pipe  was  watching  a  boy  doing  gardening  work  behind 
the  house.  Mark  remained  for  nearly  an  hour  concealed 
behind  the  hedge  in  hopes  that  he  would  come  nearer.  At 
the  end  of  that  time,  however,  he  went  into  the  house, 
and  after  waiting  another  ten  minutes  Mark  also  left, 
resisting  the  temptation  to  walk  along  the  road  and  take 
a  closer  look  at  it,  for  he  felt  that  such  a  step  would  be 
dangerous,  for  should  the  man  notice  anyone  looking  at 
the  place  his  suspicions  might  be  aroused. 

It  was  evident  that  the  lane  was  very  little  used;  in 
many  cases  the  grass  grew  across  it.  There  were  marks 
of  horses'  feet,  but  none  of  wheels,  and  he  concluded  that 
when  going  up  to  town  the  man  came  that  way  and  rode 
quietly  through  Streatham,  for  the  hoof-prints  all  pointed 
in  that  direction,  and  that  on  his  return  at  night  he  came 
up  the  lane  from  the  other  road. 

"  Well,  master,  what  flo  you  think  of  the  houses?"  the 
ostler  asked  on  his  return  to  the  inn. 

"  I  have  only  been  to  the  one  in  the  lane  that  you 
spoke  of,  for  I  want  to  get  back  to  town.  I  had  a  good 
look  at  it,  but  it  is  rather  a  dreary-looking  place,  and 


228  COLONEL  THOUNDYKWS  SECRET. 

evidently  wants  a  lot  of  repairs  before  it  can  be  made 
comfortable.  The  next  time  that  I  am  down  I  will  look 
at  the  other." 

Mounting  his  horse,  he  rode  at  a  rapid  pace  into  Lon- 
don, and  dismounted  at  Bow  Street. 

"  You  have  news,  I  see,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  chief  said 
when  he  entered. 

"  I  have,  sir;  I  believe  that  I  have  marked  the  man 
down;  at  any  rate,  if  it  is  not  he,  it  is  a  criminal  of  some 
sort — of  that  I  have  no  doubt." 

"  That  is  good  news  indeed,"  the  chief  said.  "  Now 
tell  me  all  about  it." 

Mark  repeated  the  story  the  ostler  had  told  him,  and 
the  result  of  his  own  observations. 

"  You  see,"  he  said,  "  the  man,  whether  Bastow  or  not, 
has  clearly  taken  the  place  for  the  purpose  of  conceal- 
ment, for  he  can  approach  it  by  the  lane,  which  is  a  very 
unfrequented  one,  on  his  return  from  his  expeditions. 
He  has  taken  on  a  deaf  old  woman  who  will  not  hear 
him  ride  in  at  night,  and  will  have  no  idea  at  what  hours 
he  comes  home.  Hiding  out  through  the  main  street  in 
the  afternoon  he  would  excite  no  notice,  and  the  story 
to  the  ostler  would  very  well  account  for  his  taking  the 
house  and  for  his  habit  of  coming  up  here  of  an  afternoon 
and  returning  late.  I  thought  it  best  to  come  back  and 
tell  you,  and  I  will  adopt  any  plan  that  you  suggest  for  his 
capture." 

"  You  say  that  he  has  been  there  for  nearly  a  year?  " 

"  About  a  year,  the  ostler  said." 

"  Then  one  of  my  men,  at  least,  must  have  been  very 
careless  not  to  have  found  him  out  long  ago.  Let  me 
see; "  and  he  took  down  a  volume  of  reports.  "  Streat- 
ham.  Tomlinson  has  been  here  a  fortnight  making  every 
inquiry.  '  No  man  of  suspicious  appearance  or  of  un- 
known antecedents  here.'  Humph!  That  is  not  the  first 
time  that  Tomlinson  has  failed  altogether  in  his  duty. 
However,  that  does  not  matter  for  the  moment.  What 
is  your  own  idea,  Mr.  Thorndyke?  " 

"  My  idea  is  that  a  couple  of  good  men  should  go 
down  with  me  to  Streatham,  and  that  we  should  be  always 
on  the  watch  in  High  Street  until  we  see  him  ride  past. 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  229 

Directly  it  is  dark  we  will  go  to  his  house,  fasten  the 
old  woman  up,  and  search  it  thoroughly.  If  we  find 
stolen  property  so  much  the  better;  but  in  any  case  we 
shall  wait  inside  the  house  until  he  returns,  and  as  he 
comes  in  throw  ourselves  upon  him  before  he  has  time 
to  draw  a  pistol.  I  should  say  it  would  be  as  well  the 
men  should  go  down  in  a  trap.  There  is  an  empty  house 
next  door,  and  when  we  go  to  search  the  place  we  can 
leave  the  horse  and  trap  inside  the  gate.  Directly  we 
have  him  secure  we  can  fetch  up  the  trap,  put  him  in, 
and  one  of  the  men  and  myself  can  drive  him  back  here, 
leaving  the  other  in  charge  of  the  house,  which  can  then 
be  searched  again  next  day." 

"  I  think  that  will  be  a  very  good  plan,  and  will  avoid 
all  unnecessary  fuss.  I  will  send  Malcolm  and  Chester 
down  with  you  to-morrow.     Where  will  you  meet  them?  " 

"  I  should  say  that  they  had  better  put  up  at  the 
Greyhound.  I  don't  suppose  he  will  go  out  until  six  or 
seven  o'clock,  but  they  had  better  be  there  earlier.  One 
should  station  himself  in  the  main  street,  the  other 
concealing  himself  somewhere  beyond  the  fellow's  house, 
for  it  is  likely  enough  that  sometimes  he  may  take  the 
other  way.  I  will  go  down  to  the  Greyhound  at  six,  and 
will  wait  there  until  one  of  them  brings  me  news  that  he 
has  left." 

"  I  think  you  had  better  come  in  in  the  morning,  and 
give  your  instructions  to  the  men;  there  will  be  less  fear 
of  any  mistake  being  made.  I  should  say  you  had  better 
put  your  horse  up  and  come  here  on  foot;  one  can  never 
be  too  careful  when  one  is  dealing  with  so  crafty  a  rogue 
as  this;  he  certainly  does  not  work  with  an  accomplice, 
but  for  all  that  he  may  have  two  or  three  sharp  boys  in 
his  pay,  and  they  may  watch  this  place  by  turns  and  carry 
him  news  of  any  stir  about  the  office." 

"  I  will  walk  in,"  Mark  replied.  "  It  is  no  distance 
from  Stockwell." 

Mark  slept  but  little  that  night.  He  had  believed  all 
along  tbat  he  should  be  finally  successful,  but  the  dis- 
covery had  come  so  suddenly  that  it  had  taken  him  com- 
pletely by  surprise.  It  might  not  be  the  man,  and  he 
tried  hard  to  persuade   himself  that  the  chances  were 


230  COLONEL   TEORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

against  his  being  so,  so  that  he  should  not  feel  disap- 
pointed should  it  turn  out  that  it  was  some  other  criminal, 
for  that  the  man  was  a  criminal  he  had  not  a  shadow  of 
doubt. 

The  next  morning  he  was  at  the  office  early.  The 
chief  arrived  half  an  hour  later,  and  the  two  officers  were 
at  once  called  in. 

"  You  will  go  with  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  chief  said, 
"  and  he  will  give  you  instructions.  The  capture  is  a 
very  important  one,  and  there  must  be  no  mistake  made. 
We  believe  the  man  to  be  Bastow.  I  think  you  were 
present  at  his  trial,  Chester;  he  escaped  from  Sydney 
Convict  Prison  some  three  years  ago,  and  is,  I  believe, 
the  author  of  many  of  the  highway  robberies  and  bur- 
glaries that  have  puzzled  us  so.  Of  course,  you  will 
take  firearms,  but  if  he  is  alone  you  will  certainly  have 
no  occasion  to  use  them,  especially  as  you  will  take  him 
completely  by  surprise.  You  will  order  a  gig  from 
Morden,  and  leave  here  about  three  o'clock.  I  should  say 
you  had  better  get  up  as  two  countrymen  who  have  been 
up  to  market.  However,  Mr.  Thorndyke  will  explain  the 
whole  matter  to  you  fully." 

Mark  then  went  off  with  the  two  officers  to  a  private 
room,  and  went  into  the  whole  matter  with  them. 

"  I  think,  Chester,"  he  said,  "  that  you  had  better 
watch  in  the  High  Street,  because  you  know  the  man. 
At  least,  }^ou  have  seen  him,  and  may  recognize  him 
again." 

"  I  think  I  should  know  him,  however  much  he  has 
changed.  I  took  particular  notice  of  him  at  the  trial, 
and  thought  what  a  hardened-looking  young  scamp  he 
was.  It  is  very  seldom  I  forget  a  face  when  once  I  have 
a  thorough  look  at  it,  and  I  don't  think  I  am  likely  to 
forget  his." 

"  Malcolm,  I  think  you  cannot  do  better  than  take 
your  place  in  the  garden  of  the  house  next  to  his;  it  is 
a  place  that'  has  stood  empty  for  many  months,  and 
there  is  no  chance  of  anyone  seeing  you.  His  paddock 
comes  up  to  the  garden,  and  you  can,  by  placing  yourself 
in  the  corner,  see  him  as  he  comes  out  into  the  lane. 
As  soon  as  you  see  that  he  has  gone,  come  back  to  the 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  231 

Greyhound  with  the  news.  I  shall  be  there,  and  you 
will  pick  up  Chester  in  the  High  Street  as  you  come 
along;  of  course  you  won't  pretend  to  know  me,  but  the 
mere  fact  of  your  coming  back  will  be  enough  to  tell  me 
that  he  has  gone.  As  soon  as  it  gets  dark  we  will  pay 
our  reckoning,  and  drive  off  in  the  gig,  leaving  it  in  the 
drive  in  front  of  the  house  this  side  of  his.  I  shall  have 
strolled  off  before,  and  shall  be  waiting  for  you  there. 
If  he  does  not  come  out  by  ten  o'clock  we  can  give  it  up 
for  to-night.  You  had  better  say  that  you  have  changed 
your  mind,  and  will  take  beds  at  the  Greyhound;  and  the 
next  morning  drive  off  in  your  gig  and  put  up  again  at 
the  inn  at  the  other  end  of  the  town,  the  White  Horse. 
I  will  come  over  again  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
You  will  bring  handcuffs,  and  you  had  better  also  bring 
a  stout  rope  to  tie  him  with." 

When  every  detail  had  been  arranged,  Mark  strolled  to 
Dick  Chetwynd's  lodgings. 

"  Well,  Mark  what  has  become  of  you?  I  have  not  seen 
you  for  the  last  two  months,  and  I  hear  that  you  have 
not  been  near  Ingleston's  crib  since  I  saw  you." 

"  No,  I  have  been  away  on  business.  You  know  I  told 
you  that  I  was  spending  much  of  my  time  in  endeavoring 
to  hunt  down  my  father's  murderer.  I  can  tell  you  now 
that  I  have  been  working  all  the  time  with  the  Bow  Street 
people,  and  I  think  I  know  every  thieves'  slum  in  London 
as  well  as  any  constable  in  the  town." 

"You  don't  say  so,  Mark!  Well,  I  should  not  like 
such  work  as  that.  The  prizefighters  are  a  pretty  rough 
lot,  but  to  go  to  such  dens  as  those  is  enough  to  make 
one  shudder.  But  that  does  not  explain  where  you  have 
been  now." 

"  No.  Well,  having  persuaded  myself  at  last  that  his 
headquarters  were  not  in  town,  I  have  been  trying  the 
villages  round,  and  I  believe  that  I  have  laid  my  hands 
on  him  at  last." 

"  You  don't  say  so,  Mark!  Well,  I  congratulate  you 
heartily,  both  on  your  having  caught  the  fellow  and  for 
having  got  rid  of  such  horrid  work.  Where  is  he?  Have 
you  got  him  lodged  in  jail?  " 

"  No,  we  are  going  to  capture  him  to-night;  or  if  not 


232  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

to-night,  to-morrow  night.  Two  of  the  Bow  Street 
officers  are  going  down  with  me,  and  we  shall  have  him 
as  he  comes  home  from  one  of  his  expenditions  either  on 
the  highway  or  as  a  housebreaker.  If  he  does  not  go 
this  evening  we  shall  wait  until  to-morrow,  but  at  any 
rate,  the  first  time  that  he  goes  out  we  shall  have  him." 

"  I  have  got  a  special  engagement  for  this  evening, 
Mark,  or  I  would  offer  to  go  with  you  and  lend  you  a 
hand,  if  necessary." 

"  There  is  no  occasion  for  that,  Dick.  We  shall  take 
the  fellow  by  surprise  as  he  goes  into  his  own  house,  and 
have  him  handcuffed  before  he  can  draw  a  pistol.  Then, 
when  we  have  got  him  fairly  tied  up,  we  shall  put  him 
into  a  light  cart  that  we  shall  have  handy,  and  bring  him 
straight  to  Bow  Street.  To  tell  you  the  truth,  I  am  so 
excited  over  the  thought  that  I  do  not  know  how  I 
should  have  got  through  the  day  if  I  had  not  come  in  to 
have  a  chat  with  you." 

"  I  can  quite  understand  that,  old  fellow.  Well,  the 
best  thing  we  can  do  is  to  take  a  stroll  out  and  look  at 
the  fashions.  It  is  early  yet,  but  just  at  present  it  is  all 
the  rage  to  turn  out  early.  It  will  do  me  good  too,  for 
I  was  at  Ingleston's  last  night,  and  the  smoke  and  row 
has  given  me  a  headache.  I  shall  really  have  to  give  up 
going  there,  except  when  there  is  an  important  fight  on. 
It  is  too  much  to  stand,  and  the  tobacco  is  so  bad  that 
I  am  obliged  to  keep  a  suit  of  clothes  for  the  purpose. 
Let  ns  be  off  at  once." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

At  four  o'clock  Mark  put  up  his  horse  at  the  Grey- 
hound, and  chatted  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  with  the 
ostler,  who  had  been  making  inquiries,  and  had  heard  of 
one  or  two  other  houses  in  the  neighborhood  which  were 
untenanted.  Mark  then  strolled  up  the  town,  exchanging 
a  passing  glance  with.  Chester,  who,  in  a  velveteen  coat, 
low  hat  and  gaiters,  was  chatting  with  a  wagoner  going 
with  a  load  of  hay  for  the  next  morning's  market  in 
London.  He  turned  into  an  inn,  called  for  a  pint  of  the 
best  port,  and  sat  down  in  the  parlor  at  a  table  close 
to  the  window,  so  that  he  could  see  all  who  went  up  or 
down.  He  entered  into  conversation  with  two  or  three 
people  who  came  in,  and  so  passed  the  time  till  seven, 
when  he  felt  too  restless  to  sit  still  longer,  and  went  out 
into  the  street. 

When  he  was  halfway  to  the  Greyhound  he  heard  the 
sound  of  a  horse's  hoofs  behind  him,  and  saw  a  quietly 
dressed  man  coming  along  at  an  easy  trot.  Had  it  not 
been  that  he  recognized  the  horse,  he  could  not  have  felt 
sure  that  its  rider  was  the  man  whose  coming  he  had 
been  waiting  for,  there  being  nothing  in  his  appearance 
that  would  excite  the  slightest  suspicion  that  he  was 
other  that  a  gentleman  of  moderate  means  and  quiet  taste, 
either  returning  from  a  ride  or  passing  through  on  his 
way  to  town.  He  had  a  well-built  and  active  figure, 
carried  himself  with  the  ease  of  a  thorough  horseman,  and 
nodded  to  one  or  two  persons  of  his  acquaintance,  and 
checking  his  horse  at  the  principal  butcher's,  ordered  some 
meat  to  be  sent  in  that  evening. 

Mark  could  trace  no  resemblance  in  the  face  to  that  of 
the  young  fellow  he  remembered.  It  was  a  quiet  and 
resolute  one.  If  this  were  Bastow,  he  had  lost  the  sneer- 
ing and  insolent  expression  that  was  so  strongly  impressed 
on  his  memory.  It  might  be  the  man,  but  if  so,  he  was 
greatlj   changed.     Mark's   first  impression  was   that  it 

saa 


234  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'8  SECBET. 

could  not  be  Bastow;  but  when  he  thought  over  the  years 
of  toil  and  confinement  in  the  convict  prison,  the  life  he 
had  led  in  the  bush,  and  the  two  years  he  had  passed 
since  he  returned  home,  he  imagined  that  the  insolence  of 
youth  might  well  have  disappeared,  and  been  succeeded 
by  the  resolute  daring  and  dogged  determination  that 
seemed  to  be  impressed  on  this  fellow's  face. 

Mark  paused  fifty  yards  before  he  reached  the  inn.  In 
a  few  minutes  he  saw  Chester  coming  along.  There  was 
no  one  else  in  sight. 

"  Is  it  Bastow?  "  he  asked,  as  the  officer  came  up. 

"  It's  Bastow  sure  enough,  sir.  But  he  is  so  changed 
that  if  I  had  not  had  him  in  my  mind  I  should  not  have 
recognized  him.  I  calculate  that  a  man  who  has  gone 
through  what  he  has  would  have  lost  the  expression  he 
had  as  a  boy.  He  must  have  learnt  a  lot  in  the  convict 
prison,  and  the  fact  that  he  headed  the  mutiny  and 
escaped  from  the  searchers  and  managed  to  get  home 
showed  that  he  must  have  become  a  resolute  and  desper- 
ate man.  All  those  burglaries,  and  the  way  in  which  he 
has  several  times  stopped  coaches  single-handed,  show 
his  nerve  and  coolness.  I  had  all  that  in  my  mind  as  he 
came  along,  and  his  face  was  pretty  much  as  I  expected 
to  see  it.  He  is  a  cool  hand,  and  I  can  understand  how 
he  has  given  us  the  slip  so  long.  There  is  none  of  the 
shifty  look  about  his  eyes  that  one  generally  sees  in 
criminals,  no  glancing  from  side  to  side;  he  rode  with  the 
air  of  a  man  who  had  a  right  to  be  where  he  was,  and 
feared  no  one.  He  will  be  an  awkward  customer  to  tackle 
if  we  do  not  take  him  by  surprise." 

"  Yes,  I  agree  with  you  there.  However,  he  won't 
have  much  chance  of  using  either  his  pistols  or  his 
strength.  Here  is  Malcolm  coming,  so  I  will  walk  away 
for  a  few  minutes,  and  let  you  go  in  first.  You  can  tell 
the  ostler  now  that  you  will  have  your  horse  put  in  at 
nine  o'clock.  I  have  been  thinking,  by  the  way,  that  we 
had  better  take  the  trap  round  behind  the  house  instead 
of  leaving  it  in  the  drive.  The  man  may  come  back  this 
way,  and  if  so,  he  might  hear  the  horse  stamp  or  make 
some  movement,  and  that  would  at  once  put  him  on  his 
guard/' 


COLONEL   TIIORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  235 

As  the  officers  entered  the  inn  Mark  went  into  the 
yard  and  told  the  ostler  that  he  had  met  some  friends, 
and  should  let  his  horse  remain  there  for  the  night. 

"  It  is  possible  that  they  may  drive  me  into  the  town 
in  the  morning,"  he  said;  "  and  I  shall  very  likely  send 
a  man  down  for  the  horse." 

At  a  quarter  to  nine  he  went  out  again,  and  walked  to 
the  house  he  had  before  visited;  in  ten  minutes  he  heard 
the  sound  of  wheels,  threw  open  the  gate,  and  the  men, 
jumping  down,  led  the  horse  in. 

"  You  may  as  well  take  him  out  of  the  trap,"  he  said. 
"  We  cannot  very  well  get  that  round  the  house,  but  there 
is  no  difficulty  about  taking  the  horse." 

The  officers  had  brought  a  halter  and  a  nosebag  full  of 
corn.  The  horse  was  fastened  to  a  tree  with  soft  ground 
round  it,  the  nosebag  put  on,  and  a  horse-cloth  thrown 
over  its  back;  then  Mark  and  his  two  companions  went 
out  into  the  lane,  and  in  a  couple  of  minutes  entered  the 
next  gate,  treading  lightly,  and  going  round  to  the  back 
of  the  house. 

A  light  burned  in  the  kitchen,  and  an  old  woman 
could  be  seen  knitting.  They  lifted  the  latch  and  walked 
in.  Dropping  her  knitting,  she  rose  with  an  exclamation 
of  terror. 

Mark  advanced  alone. 

"  Do  not  be  frightened,"  he  said;  "  we  are  not  going  to 
do  you  any  harm."  He  took  out  his  little  ebony  staff. 
"  We  are  constables,"  he  went  on,  "  and  have  orders  to 
search  this  house.  We  must  secure  you,  but  you  will 
be  released  in  the  morning.     Now,  which  is  your  room?  " 

In  spite  of  Mark's  assurance,  the  old  woman  was 
almost  paralyzed  with  terror.  However,  the  two  con- 
stables assisted  her  up  to  her  room,  and  there  secured 
her  with  a  rope,  taking  care  that  it  was  not  so  tightly 
*>ound  as  to  hurt  her.  Then  they  placed  a  gag  in  her 
nouth,  and  left  her. 

"  Now  let  us  search  his  room  in  the  first  place,"  Mark 
said,  when  they  came  downstairs  again.  "  I  hardly 
expect  we  shall  find  anything.  You  may  be  sure  that  he 
will  have  taken  great  pains  to  hide  away  any  booty  that 
he  may  have  here,  and  that  it  will  need  daylight  and  a 


236  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

closer  search  than  we  can  give  the  place  now,  before  we 
find  anything." 

The  search  of  the  house  was  indeed  fruitless.  They 
cut  open  the  bed,  prized  up  every  loose  board  in  the 
bedroom  and  the  parlor,  lifted  the  hearthstone,  tapped 
the  walls,  and  searched  every  drawer;  then,  taking  a 
lantern,  went  out  into  the  stable.  The  officers  were  both 
accustomed  to  look  for  hiding-places,  and  ran  their  hands 
along  on  the  top  of  the  walls,  examining  the  stone  flooring 
and  manger. 

"  That  is  a  very  large  corn-bin,"  Mark  said,  as  he 
looked  round,  when  they  desisted  from  the  search. 

"  You  are  right,  sir.     We  will  empty  it." 

There  were  two  or  three  empty  sacks  on  the  ground  near 
it,  and  they  emptied  the  corn  into  these,  so  that  there 
should  be  no  litter  about.  Chester  gave  an  exclamation 
of  disappointment  as  they  reached  the  bottom.  Mark 
put  his  hand  on  the  bin  and  gave  it  a  pull. 

"  It  is  just  as  I  thought,"  he  said.  "  It  is  fastened 
down.  I  saw  an  ax  in  the  woodshed,  Malcolm;  just  fetch 
it  here." 

While  the  man  was  away  Mark  took  the  lantern  and 
examined  the  bottom  closely.  "  We  shan't  want  the  ax," 
he  said,  as  he  pointed  out  to  Chester  a  piece  of  string 
that  was  apparently  jammed  in  the  form  of  a  loop  between 
the  bottom  and  side.  "  Just  get  in  and  clear  those  few 
handfuls  of  corn  out.  I  think  you  will  see  that  it  will 
pull  up  then." 

There  was,  however,  no  movement  in  the  bottom  when 
Mark  pulled  at  the  loop. 

"  Look  closely  round  outside,"  he  said,  handing  Mal- 
colm, who  had  now  returned,  the  lantern.  "  I  have  no 
doubt  that  there  is  a  catch  somewhere." 

In  a  minute  or  two  the  constable  found  a  small  ring 
between  two  of  the  cobblestones  close  to  the  foot  of  the 
wall.  He  pulled  at  it,  and  as  he  did  so  Mark  felt  the 
resistance  to  his  pull  cease  suddenly,  and  the  bottom  of 
the  bin  came  up  like  a  trapdoor. 

"  That  is  a  clever  hiding-place,"  he  said.  "  If  I  had 
not  happened  to  notice  that  the  bin  was  fixed  we  might 
have  had  a  long  search  before  we  found  it  here." 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  237 

Below  was  a  square  hole,  the  size  of  the  hin;  a  ladder 
led  down  into  it.  Mark,  with  a  lantern,  descended. 
Four  or  five  sacks  piled  on  each  other  lay  at  the  bottom, 
leaving  just  room  enough  for  a  man  to  stand  beside  them. 

"  The  top  one  is  silver  by  the  feel/'  he  said,  "  not  yet 
broken  up;  these  smaller  sacks  are  solid.  I  suppose  it  is 
silver  that  has  been  melted  down.  This  " — and.  he  lifted 
a  bag  some  eighteen  inches  deep,  opened  it,  and  looked 
in — "  contains  watches  and  jewels.  Now  I  think  we  will 
leave  things  here  for  the  present,  and  put  everything 
straight.     He  may  be  back  before  long." 

Mark  ascended,  the  bottom  of  the  trap  was  shut  down 
again,  the  corn  poured  in,  and  the  bags  thrown  down  on 
the  spot  from  which  they  had  been  taken.  They  returned 
to  the  house,  shut  the  door,  and  extinguished  the  light. 

"  That  has  been  a  grand  find,"  he  said;  "  even  if  this  is 
not  Bastow,  it  will  be  a  valuable  capture." 

"  That  it  will,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
this  fellow  is  the  man  we  have  been  in  search  of  for  the 
last  eighteen  months;  that  accounts  for  our  difficulty  in 
laying  hold  of  him.  He  has  been  too  crafty  to  try  to 
sell  any  of  his  plunder,  so  that  none  of  the  fences  have 
known  anything  about  him.  No  doubt  he  has  taken 
sufficient  cash  to  enable  him  to  live  here  quietly.  He 
intended  some  time  or  other  to  melt  down  all  the  rest  of 
the  plate  and  to  sell  the  silver,  which  he  could  do  easily 
enough.  As  for  the  watches  and  jewels,  he  could  get  rid 
of  them  abroad." 

"  No  doubt  that  is  what  he  intended,"  Mark  agreed. 
"  It  is  not  often  these  fellows  are  as  prudent  as  he  has 
been;  if  they  were,  your  work  would  be  a  good  deal  more 
difficult  than  it  is." 

:'  You  are  right,  sir;  I  don't  know  that  I  ever  heard  of 
such  a  case  before.  The  fellow  almost  deserves  to  get 
away." 

"  That  would  be  rewarding  him  too  highly  for  his 
caution,"  Mark  laughed.  "  He  is  a  desperate  villain,  and 
all  the  more  dangerous  for  being  a  prudent  one.  Now, 
I  think  one  of  us  had  better  keep  watch  at  the  gate  by 
turns.  We  shall  hear  him  coming  in  plenty  of  time  to 
get  back  here  and  be  in  readiness  for  him.     We  must 


238  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

each  understand  our  part  thoroughly.  I  will  stand  facing 
the  door.  It  is  possible  that  he  may  light  that  lantern 
we  saw  hanging  in  the  stable,  but  I  don't  think  it  likely 
he  will  do  so;  he  will  take  off  the  saddle,  and  either 
take  the  horse  in  there — there  is  plenty  of  food  in  the 
manger — or  else  turn  it  out  into  the  paddock.  As  he 
comes  in  I  will  throw  my  arms  round  him  and  you  will  at 
once  close  in,  one  on  each  side,  each  catch  an  arm 
tightly,  handcuff  him,  and  take  the  pistols  from  his 
belt.  Don't  leave  go  of  his  arms  until  I  have  lit  the 
candle;  he  may  have  another  pistol  inside  his  coat,  and 
might  draw  it." 

It  was  now  one  o'clock,  and  half  an  hour  later  Malcolm, 
who  was  at  the  gate,  came  in  quietly  and  said  he  could 
hear  a  horse  coming  along  the  lane. 

"  Which  way,  Malcolm?  " 

"  Tooting  way." 

"  That  is  all  right.  I  have  been  a  little  nervous  lest  if 
he  came  the  other  way  our  horse  might  make  some  slight 
noise  and  attract  his  attention;  that  was  our  only  weak 
point." 

They  had  already  ascertained  that  the  front  door  was 
locked  and  bolted,  and  that  he  must  therefore  enter 
through  the  kitchen.  They  heard  the  horse  stop  in  front, 
a  moment  later  the  gate  was  opened,  and  through  the 
window  they  could  just  make  out  the  figure  of  a  man 
leading  a  horse:  then  the  stable  door  opened,  and  they 
heard  a  movement,  and  knew  that  the  horse  was  being 
unsaddled;  they  heard  it  walk  into  the  stable,  the  door 
was  shut  behind  it,  and  a  step  approached  the  back  door. 
It  was  opened,  and  a  voice  said  with  an  oath,  "  The  old 
fool  has  forgotten  to  leave  a  candle  burning  "  ;  then  he 
stepped  into  the  kitchen. 

In  an  instant  there  was  a  sound  of  a  violent  struggle, 
deep  oaths  and  curses,  two  sharp  clicks,  then  all  was 
quiet  except  heavy  breathing  and  the  striking  of  flint  on 
a  tinder-box;  there  was  the  blue  glare  of  the  sulphur 
match,  and  a  candle  was  lighted.  Mark  then  turned  to 
the  man  who  was  standing  still  grasped  in  the  hands  of  his 
two  captors. 

"  Arthur   Bastow,"   he   said,  producing  his   staff,   "  I 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE' 8  SECRET.  239 

arrest  you  in  the  King's  name,  as  an  escaped  convict,  as  a 
notorious  highwayman  and  housebreaker." 

As  his  name  was  spoken  the  man  started,  then  he  said 
quietly: 

"  You  have  made  a  mistake  this  time,  my  men;  my 
name  is  William  Johnson;  I  am  well  known  here,  and 
have  been  a  quiet  resident  in  this  house  for  upwards  of  a 
year." 

"  A  resident,  but  not  a  quiet  resident,  Bastow.  I  don't 
think  we  are  mistaken;  but  even  if  you  can  prove  that 
you  are  not  Bastow,  but  William  Johnson,  a  man  of  means 
and  family,  we  have  evidence  enough  upon  the  other 
charges.  We  have  been  in  search  of  you  for  a  long  time, 
and  have  got  you  at  last.  You  don't  remember  me, 
though  it  is  but  eighteen  months  since  we  met;  but  I 
fancy  that  I  then  left  a  mark  upon  you  that  still  remains 
on  your  shoulder.  I  am  Mark  Thorndyke,  and  you  will 
understand  now  why  I  have  hunted  you  down." 

"  The  game  is  not  finished  yet,"  the  man  said  recklessly. 
"  The  hunting  down  will  be  the  other  way  next  time, 
Mark  Thorndyke." 

"  I  don't  think  so.  Now,  Chester,  you  may  as  well  tie 
his  feet  together,  and  then  search  him.  When  that  is 
done  I  will  look  after  him  while  you  fetch  the  trap 
round." 

In  his  pockets  were  found  two  gold  watches,  forty- 
eight  pounds  in  gold,  and  a  hundred  pounds  in  bank 
notes. 

"  We  shall  hear  where  this  comes  from  to-morrow," 
Malcolm  said,  as  he  laid  them  on  the  table;  "  it  will  save 
us  the  trouble  of  getting  evidence  from  Australia." 

The  prisoner  was  placed  in  a  chair,  and  then  the  two 
officers  went  out  to  fetch  the  trap  round. 

"  So  you  have  turned  thief-catcher,  have  you?  "  he  said 
in  a  sneering  tone,  that  recalled  him  to  Mark's  memory 
far  more  than  his  face  had  done,  "  and  you  carry  a  Bow 
Street  staff  about  with  you,  and  pretend  to  belong  to  the 
force:  that  is  a  punishable  offense,  you  know." 

"  Yes,  it  would  be  if  I  had  no  right  to  use  it,"  Mark 
said  quietly;  "but  it  happens  that  I  have  a  right,  having 
been  for  a  year  and  a  half  in  the  force.     I  joined  it  solely 


240  COLONEL   THORNDTEE'S  SECRET. 

to  hunt  you  down,  and  now  that  I  have  done  so  my 
resignation  will  be  sent  in  to-morrow." 

"  And  how  is  the  worthy  squire?  " 

Mark  started  to  his  feet,  and  seized  one  of  the  pistols 
lying  before  him. 

"You  villain!"  he  exclaimed,  "I  wonder  you  dare 
mention  his  name — you,  his  murderer." 

"  It  was  but  tit  for  tat,"  the  man  said  coolly;  "  he 
murdered  me,  body  and  soul,  when  he  sent  me  to  the 
hulks.  I  told  him  I  would  be  even  with  him.  I  did  not 
think  I  had  hit  him  at  the  time,  for  I  thought  that  if  I 
had  you  would  have  stopped  with  him,  and  would  not  have 
chased  me  across  the  fields." 

"  You  scoundrel! "  Mark  said.  "  You  know  well 
enough  that  you  came  back,  stole  into  his  room,  and 
stabbed  him." 

Bastow  looked  at  him  with  a  puzzled  expression. 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  are  talking  about,"  he  said. 
"  I  fired  at  him  through  the  window — I  don't  mind  saying 
so  to  you,  because  there  are  no  witnesses — and  saw  him 
jump  up,  but  I  fancied  I  had  missed  him.  I  saw  you  bol  fc 
out  of  the  room,  and  thought  it  better  to  be  off  at  once 
instead  of  taking  another  shot.  You  gave  me  a  hard 
chase.  It  was  lucky  for  you  that  you  did  not  come  up 
with  me,  for  if  you  had  done  so  I  should  have  shot  you; 
I  owed  you  one  for  having  killed  as  good  a  comrade  as 
man  ever  had,  and  for  that  bullet  you  put  in  my  shoulder 
before.  If  I  had  not  been  so  out  of  breath  that  I  could 
not  feel  sure  of  my  aim  I  should  have  stopped  for  you, 
but  I  rode  straight  to  town." 

"  A  likely  story,"  Mark  said  shortly.  "  What,  you  will 
pretend  that  there  were  two  murderers  hanging  round 
the  house  that  night? — a  likely  tale  indeed." 

"  I  tell  you  that  if  your  father  was  killed  by  a  knife 
or  dagger,  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,"  the  man  said. 
"  I  am  obliged  to  the  man,  whoever  he  was.  I  had 
intended  to  go  down  again  to  Eeigate  to  finish  the  job 
myself;  I  should  scarcely  have  missed  a  second  time.  So 
it  is  for  that  you  hunted  me  down?  Well,  I  don't  blame 
you;  I  never  forgive  an  injury,  and  I  see  your  sentiments 
are  mine.     Whether  I  killed  your  father  or  not  makes  no 


COLONEL  THORNDTEE'S  SECRET.  241 

difference;  he  was  killed,  that  is  the  principal  point;  if 
I  was  going  to  be  put  on  my  trial  for  that  I  could  prove 
that  at  eight  o'clock  I  was  in  a  coffee-house  in  Covent 
Garden.  I  purposely  kicked  up  a  row  there,  and  was 
turned  out,  so  that  if  I  were  charged  with  that  shooting 
affair  I  could  prove  that  I  was  in  London  that  evening." 

"  I  can't  quite  believe  that,"  Mark  said;  "  a  fast  horse 
would  have  brought  you  up  to  town  in  an  hour  and  a 
half,  and  another  fast  horse  would  have  taken  you  back 
again  as  quickly;  so  you  might  have  been  in  London  at 
eight  and  back  again  at  Crowswood  by  half-past  twelve 
or  one,  even  if  you  stopped  a  couple  of  hours  at  a  coffee- 
house. However,  you  won't  be  tried  for  that.  Those 
things  on  the  table  and  the  contents  of  that  corn-bin  are 
enough  to  hang  you  a  dozen  times." 

"Curse  you!  have  you  found  that  out?"  Bastow  ex- 
claimed furiously. 

"  We  have,"  Mark  replied.  "  It  would  have  been  wiser 
if  you  had  got  rid  of  your  things  sooner.  It  was  a  clever 
hiding-place,  but  it  is  always  dangerous  to  keep  such 
things  by  you,  Bastow." 

The  man  said  no  more,  but  sat  quietly  in  his  chair 
until  they  heard  the  vehicle  stop  outside  the  gate.  Then 
the  two  constables  came  in,  and  lifting  Bastow,  carried 
him  out  and  placed  him  in  the  bottom  of  the  cart. 

"  You  can  loose  the  old  woman  now,  Malcolm,"  Mark 
said  as  he  took  his  seat  and  gathered  the  reins  in  his  hand. 
"  By  eleven  o'clock,  no  doubt,  one  of  the  others  will  be 
down  with  the  gig  again,  and  you  can  empty  out  the 
contents  of  that  hole,  and  bring  them  up  with  you.  I 
don't  think  that  it  will  be  of  any  use  searching  further. 
You  might  have  a  good  look  all  round  before  you  come 
away.  There  may  be  some  notes  stowed  away,  though  it  is 
likely  enough  that  they  have  been  sent  away  by  post  to 
some  receiver  abroad." 

For  some  time  after  starting  they  could  hear  the 
prisoner  moving  about  uneasily  in  the  straw. 

"  I  suppose  there  is  no  fear  of  his  slipping  out  of  those 
handcuffs,  Chester?  " 

"  Not  a  bit;  they  are  full  tight  for  him.  I  expect, that 
that  is  what  is  making  him  uncomfortable." 


242  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

Presently  the  movement  ceased. 

"  He  is  still  enough  now,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  I  should 
not  be  at  all  surprised  if  he  has  dropped  off  to  sleep. 
He  is  hardened  enough  to  sleep  while  the  gibbet  was  wait- 
ing for  him." 

It  was  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  they  drove  up 
at  Bow  Street.  Two  constables  on  duty  came  out  to  the 
cart. 

"  We  have  got  a  prisoner,  Inspector,"  Chester  said. 
"  He  is  the  man  we  have  been  looking  for  so  long.  I 
fancy  we  have  got  all  the  swag  that  has  been  stolen  for 
the  last  eighteen  months — bags  of  jewels  and  watches,  and 
sacks  of  silver.  He  is  handcuffed,  and  his  legs  are  tied, 
so  we  must  carry  him  in." 

The  officer  fetched  out  a  lantern.  The  other  constable 
helped  him  to  let  down  the  backboard  of  the  cart. 

"  Now,  Bastow,  wake  up,"  Chester  said.  "  Here  we 
are." 

But  there  was  no  movement. 

"  He  is  mighty  sound  asleep,"  the  constable  said. 

"Well,  haul  him  out;"  and,  taking  the  man  by  the 
shoulders,  they  pulled  him  out  from  the  cart. 

"  There  is  something  rum  about  him,"  the  constable 
said;  and  as  they  lowered  his  feet  to  the  pavement  his 
head  fell  forward,  and  he  would  have  sunk  down  if  they 
had  not  supported  him. 

The  Inspector  raised  the  lantern  to  his  face. 

"  Why,  the  man  is  dead,"  he  said. 

"  Dead!  "  Chester  repeated  incredulously. 

"  Aye,  that  he  is.  Look  here; "  and  he  pointed  to  a 
slim  steel  handle  some  three  inches  long,  projecting  over 
the  region  of  the  heart.  "  You  must  have  searched  him 
very  carelessly,  Chester.     Well,  bring  him  in  now." 

They  carried  him  into  the  room,  where  two  candles 
were  burning.  Mark  followed  them.  The  inspector 
pulled  out  the  dagger.  It  was  but  four  inches  long,  with 
a  very  thin  blade.  The  handle  was  little  thicker  than  the 
blade  itself.     Mark  took  it  and  examined  it. 

"  I  have  not  a  shadow  of  doubt  that  this  is  the  dagger 
with  which  he  murdered  my  father.  The  wound  was  very 
narrow,  about  this  width,  and  the  doctor  said  that  the 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE 'S  SECRET.  243 

weapon   that    had    been    used    was    certainly    a    foreign 
dagger." 

"  I  don't  think  this  is  a  foreign  dagger,"  the  Inspector 
said  on  examining  it,  "  although  it  may  be  the  one  that 
was  used,  as  you  say,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  It  has  evidently 
■been  made  to  carry  about  without  being  observed." 

He  threw  back  the  dead  man's  coat. 

*'  Ah,  here  is  where  it  was  kept.  You  see,  the  lining 
nas  been  sewn  to  the  cloth,  so  as  to  make  a  sheath  down 
by  the  seam  under  the  arm.  I  expect  that,  knowing 
what  would  happen  if  he  were  caught,  he  had  made  up 
his  mind  to  do  it  all  along.  Well,  I  don't  know  that 
you  are  to  be  so  much  blamed,  Chester,  for,  passing  your 
hand  over  his  clothes,  you  might  very  well  miss  this, 
which  is  no  thicker  than  a  piece  of  whalebone.  Well,  well, 
he  has  saved  us  a  good  deal  of  trouble.  You  say  you  have 
got  most  of  the  booty  he  has  collected?  " 

"  I  don't  know  that  we  have  got  all  of  it,  sir,  but  we 
have  made  a  very  big  haul,  anyhow;  it  was  a  cunningly 
contrived  place.  There  was  a  big  corn-bin  in  the  stable, 
and  when  we  had  emptied  out  the  corn  it  seemed  empty. 
However,  Mr.  Thorndyke  discovered  that  the  bin  was 
fixed.  Then  we  found  that  the  bottom  was  really  a  trap- 
door, and  under  it  was  a  sort  of  well  in  which  were  sacks 
and  bags.  One  of  the  sacks  was  full  of  unbroken  silver, 
two  other  contained  silver  ingots,  things  that  he  had 
melted  down,  and  there  was  a  large  bag  full  of  watches 
and  jewels.  In  his  pocket  we  found  a  hundred  pounds 
in  bank  notes,  about  fifty  guineas,  and  a  couple  of  gold 
watches." 

"  That  he  must  have  got  to-night  from  the  Portsmouth 
coach;  we  heard  half  an  hour  ago  that  it  had  been 
stopped  near  Kingston,  the  coachman  shot,  and  the 
passengers  robbed.  It  will  be  good  news  to  some  of  them 
that  we  have  got  hold  of  their  valuables.  Well,  Mr. 
Thorndyke,  I  have  to  congratulate  you  most  heartily  on 
the  skill  with  which  you  have  ferreted  out  a  man  who 
had  baffled  us  for  so  long,  and  had  become  a  perfect 
terror  to  the  south  of  London.  No  doubt  we  shall  be 
able  to  trace  a  great  portion  of  the  property  in  that  sack. 
The  capture  has  been  splendidly  effected." 


244  COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

"  You  will  understand,"  Mark  said,  "  that  I  do  not 
■wish  my  name  to  appear  in  the  matter  at  all.  I  have, 
as  you  know,  been  actuated  by  private  reasons  only  in 
my  search,  and  I  see  no  occasion  why  my  name  should 
he  mentioned;  the  evidence  of  Chester  and  Malcolm  will 
he  ample.  From  information  received,  they  went  down 
to  this  place,  searched  it  in  his  absence,  discovered  the 
stolen  goods,  and  captured  them.  Having  handcuffed  and 
hound  him,  one  drove  him  up  to  town,  the  other  remain- 
ing to  guard  the  treasure.  On  his  way  he  got  at  this  hid- 
den dagger  and  stabbed  himself.  My  evidence  would  not 
strengthen  the  case  at  all." 

"  No,  I  don't  see  that  it  will  be  necessary  to  call  you, 
Mr.  Thorndyke.  The  discover}^  of  this  hidden  booty  and 
the  proceeds  of  the  coach  robbery  would  be  quite 
sufficient.  Beyond  the  coroner's  inquest  there  will  be  no 
inquiry.  Had  it  been  otherwise  it  might  probably  have 
heen  necessary  to  call  you  at  the  trial.  However,  as  it 
is,  it  will  save  a  lot  of  trouble;  now  we  shall  only  need 
to  find  the  owners  of  these  bank  notes.  I  will  send  off 
a  cart  for  the  things  as  early  as  I  can  get  one,  and  will 
send  a  couple  of  constables  round  to  the  houses  where 
"burglaries  have  been  committed  to  request  the  owners  to 
come  over  and  see  if  they  can  identify  any  of  their  prop- 
erty; and  those  who  do  so  can  attend  the  inquest  to- 
morrow, though  I  don't  suppose  they  will  be  called.  The 
chief  will  be  mightily  pleased  when  he  hears  what  has 
taken  place,  for  he  has  been  sadly  worried  by  these  con- 
stant complaints,  and  I  fancy  that  the  authorities  have 
heen  rather  down  upon  him  on  the  subject.  The 
announcement  that  the  career  of  this  famous  robber  has 
heen  brought  to  an  end  will  cause  quite  a  sensation,  and 
people  round  the  commons  on  the  south  side  will  sleep 
more  quietly  than  they  have  done  lately.  I  expect  that 
if  he  had  not  put  an  end  to  himself  we  should  have  had 
to  send  him  across  to  Newington  to-day,  for  of  course 
it  is  a  Surrey  business,  though  we  have  had  the  luck  to 
take  him.  I  suppose  we  shall  not  see  much  of  you  in  the 
iuture,  Mr.  Thorndyke?  " 

"  No  indeed,"  Mark  said.  "  My  business  is  done,  and 
3  shall  send  in  my  resignation  this  morning.     I   don't 


COLONEL   THOBNDYKE'S  SECRET.  245 

regret  the  time  that  I  have  spent  over  it;  I  have  learned 
a  great  deal,  and  have  seen  a  lot  of  the  shady  side  of 
life,  and  have  picked  up  experience  in  a  good  many 
ways." 

Mark,  after  requesting  the  Inspector  to  find  a  man  to 
go  over  to  Streatham  and  bring  back  his  horse,  and 
writing  an  order  to  the  ostler  to  deliver  it,  walked  across 
to  his  lodgings.  Upon  the  whole,  he  was  not  sorry  that 
Bastow  had  taken  the  matter  into  his  own  hands;  he 
had,  certainly,  while  engaged  in  the  search,  looked  forward 
to  seeing  him  in  the  dock  and  witnessing  his  execution, 
but  he  now  felt  that  enough  had  been  done  for  vengeance, 
and  that  it  was  as  well  that  the  matter  had  ended  as  it 
had.  He  was  wearied  out  with  the  excitement  of  the  last 
forty-eight  hours.  It  was  one  o'clock  when  he  awoke, 
and  after  dressing  and  going  into  Covent  Garden  to 
lunch  at  one  of  the  coffee-houses,  he  made  his  way  up  to 
Islington. 

"Taking  a  day's  holiday?"  Millicent  asked  as  he  came  in. 

"  Well,  not  exactly,  Millicent;  I  have  left  school  alto- 
gether." 

"Left  school,  Mark?  Do  you  mean  that  you  have 
decided  that  it  is  of  no  use  going  on  any  longer?  " 

"  I  have  given  it  up  because  I  have  finished  it.  Arthur 
Bastow  was  captured  last  night,  and  committed  suicide  as 
he  was  being  taken  to  the  station." 

An  exclamation  of  surprise  broke  from  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham and  Millicent. 

"  It  seems  horrid  to  be  glad  that  anyone  has  taken  his 
own  life,"  the  latter  said;  "  but  I  cannot  help  feeling  so, 
for  as  long  as  he  lived  I  should  never  have  considered 
that  you  were  safe,  and  besides,  I  suppose  there  is  no 
doubt  that  if  he  had  not  killed  himself  he  would  have 
been  hung." 

"  There  is  not  a  shadow  of  doubt  about  that,"  Mark 
replied.  "We  found  the  proceeds  of  a  vast  number  of 
fobberies  at  his  place,  and  also  in  his  pockets  the  money 
he  had  taken  from  the  passengers  of  the  Portsmouth 
coach  an  hour  before  we  captured  him.  So  that,  putting 
aside  that  Australian  business  altogether,  his  doom  wa& 
sealed." 


246  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"Now,  please,  tell  us  all  about  it,"  Mrs.  Cunningham 
said.  "  But  first  let  us  congratulate  you  most  warmly 
not  only  on  the  success  of  your  search,  but  that  the  work 
is  at  an  end." 

"  Yes,  I  am  glad  it  is  over.  At  first  I  was  very  much 
interested;  in  fact,  I  was  intensely  interested  all  along,, 
and  should  have  been  for  however  long  it  had  continued. 
But,  at  the  same  time,  I  could  do  nothing  else,  and  one 
does  not  want  to  spend  one's  whole  life  as  a  detective. 
At  last  it  came  about  almost  by  chance,  and  the  only 
thing  I  have  to  congratulate  myself  upon  is  that  my 
idea  of  the  sort  of  place  he  would  have  taken  was  exactly 
borne  out  by  fact."  And  Mark  then  gave  them  a  full 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  discovery  had  been 
made  a,nd  the  capture  effected. 

"  You  see,  Millicent,  I  followed  your  injunction,  and 
was  very  careful.  Taking  him  by  surprise  as  I  did,  I 
might  have  managed  it  single-handed,  but  with  the  aid  of 
two  good  men  it  made  a  certainty  of  it,  and  the  whole 
thing  was  comfortably  arranged." 

"  I  think  you  have  done  splendidly,  Mark,"  Mrs. 
Cunningham  said.  "It  was  certainly  wonderful  that 
you  should  have  found  him  doing  exactly  what  you 
had  guessed,  even  down  to  the  deaf  servant.  Well, 
now  that  is  done  and  over,  what  do  you  think  of  doing 
next?" 

"  I  have  hardly  thought  about  that,"  he  replied;  "  but, 
at  any  rate,  I  shall  take  a  few  weeks'  holiday,  and  I 
suppose  after  that  I  shall  settle  down  to  the  search  for  my 
uncle's  treasure.  I  am  afraid  that  will  be  a  much  longer 
and  a  vastly  more  difficult  business  than  this  has  been. 
Here  there  were  all  sorts  of  clews  to  work  upon.  Bastow 
ought  to  have  been  captured  months  ago,  but  in  this 
other  affair,  so  far,  there  is  next  to  nothing  to  follow  up. 
"We  don't  even  know  whether  the  things  are  in  India  or 
in  England.  I  believe  they  will  be  found,  but  that  it 
will  be  by  an  accident.  Besides,  I  fancy  that  we  shall  hear 
about  them  when  you  come  of  age,  Millicent.  There  was 
to  have  been  no  change  till  that  time,  and  I  cannot  help 
thinking  that  Uncle  George  must  have  made  some  pro- 
visions by  which  we  should  get  to  know  about  them  in 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  24  r 

the  event  of  his  death  without  his  having  an  opportunity 
of  telling  anyone  where  they  are. 

"  He  might  have  been  killed  in  battle;  he  might  have 
been  drowned  on  his  way  home.  He  had  thought  the 
whole  matter  over  so  thoroughly,  I  do  think  the  possi- 
bilities of  this  could  not  have  escaped  him.  As  I  told 
you,  Mr.  Prendergast  made  inquiries  of  all  the  principal 
bankers  and  Indian  agents  here,  and  altogether  without 
success.  After  he  had  done  that,  I  got  a  list  of  all  the 
leading  firms  in  Calcutta  and  Madras,  and  wrote  to  them, 
and  all  the  replies  were  in  the  negative.  It  is  true  that 
does  not  prove  anything  absolutely.  Eighteen  years  is  a 
long  time,  and  the  chances  are  that  during  those  years 
almost  every  head  of  a  firm  would  have  retired  and 
come  home.  Such  a  matter  would  only  be  likely  to  be 
known  to  the  heads;  and  if,  as  we  thought  likely,  the 
box  or  chest  was  merely  forwarded  by  a  firm  there  to 
England,  the  transaction  would  not  have  attracted  any 
special  attention.  If,  upon  the  other  hand,  it  remained 
out  there  it  might  have  been  put  down  in  a  cellar  or 
store,  and  have  been  lying  there  ever  since,  altogether 
forgotten." 

"  I  don't  see  myself  why  you  should  bother  any  more 
about  it;  perhaps,  as  you  say,  it  will  turn  up  of  itself 
when  I  come  of  age.  At  any  rate,  I  should  say  it  is 
certainly  as  well  to  wait  till  then  and  see  if  it  does, 
especially  as  you  acknowledge  that  you  have  no  clew 
whatever  to  work  on.  It  is  only  three  more  years,  for 
I  am  eighteen  next  week,  and  it  certainly  seems  to  me 
that  it  will  be  very  foolish  to  spend  the  next  three  years 
in  searching  about  for  a  thing  that  may  come  to  you  with- 
out any  searching  at  all." 

"  Well,  I  will- think  it  over." 

"  You  see,  you  really  don't  want  the  money,  Mark,"  she 
went  on. 

"  No,  I  don't  want  it  particularly,  Millicent;  but  when 
one  knows  that  there  is  something  like  £50,000  waiting 
for  one  somewhere,  one  would  like  to  get  it.  Your  father 
worked  for  twenty  years  of  his  life  accumulating  it  for  us, 
and  it  seems  to  me  a  sort  of  sacred  duty  to  see  that  his 
laboT  has  not  all  been  thrown  away." 


248  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

Millicent  was  silent. 

"  It  is  very  tiresome,"  she  said  presently.  "  Of  course 
my  father  intended,  as  you  say,  that  his  savings  should 
come  to  us,  but  I  am  sure  he  never  meant  that  they 
should  be  a  bother  and  a  trouble  to  us." 

"  I  don't  see  why  they  should  ever  be  that,  Millicent. 
As  it  is  we  have  both  sufficient  for  anything  any  man  or 
woman  could  reasonably  want,  and  neither  of  us  need 
fret  over  it  if  the  treasure  is  never  found.  Still,  he 
wished  us  to  have  it,  and  it  is  properly  ours,  and  I  don't 
want  it  to  go  to  enrich  someone  who  has  not  a  shadow  of 
si  right  to  it." 

On  the  following  morning  Mark  went  to  attend  the 
inquest  on  Bastow.  He  did  not  go  into  the  court,  how- 
ever, but  remained  close  at  hand  in  the  event  of  the 
coroner  insisting  upon  his  being  called.  However,  the 
two  men  only  spoke  casually  in  their  evidence  of  their 
comrade  Eoberts,  who  had  been  also  engaged  in  the 
capture.  One  of  the  jurymen  suggested  that  he  should 
also  be  called,  but  the  coroner  said: 

"  I  really  cannot  see  any  occasion  for  it;  we  are  here 
to  consider  how  the  deceased  came  by  his  death,  and  I 
think  it  must  be  perfectly  clear  that  he  came  by  it  by 
his  own  act.  You  have  heard  how  he  was  captured,  that 
the  spoils  of  the  coach  that  he  had  just  rifled  were  found 
Tipon  him,  and  that  the  booty  he  had  been  acquiring  from 
ihis  deeds  for  months  past  also  was  seized;  therefore,  as 
the  man  was  desperate,  and  knew  well  enough  that  his 
life  was  forfeited,  there  was  ample  motive  for  his  putting 
an  end  to  his  wretched  existence.  I  really  do  not  think, 
gentlemen,  that  it  is  worth  while  to  waste  your  time  and 
mine  by  going  into  further  evidence." 

Finally,  a  verdict  of  felo  de  se  was  returned,  with  a 
strong  expression  of  the  jury's  admiration  of  the  conduct 
of  constables  Malcolm,  Chester,  and  Eoberts,  who  had  so 
cleverly  effected  the  capture  of  the  man  who  had  so  long 
set  the  law  at  defiance. 


CHAPTEE    XVII. 

Four  days  later  Mark,  on  his  return  from  dinner,  found 
Philip  Cotter  sitting  in  his  room  waiting  for  him.  They 
had  met  on  the  previous  evening,  and  Cotter  had  expressed 
his  intention  of  calling  upon  him  the  next  day. 

"  I  am  here  on  a  matter  of  business,  Thorndyke,"  the 
latter  said  as  they  shook  hands. 

"  Of  business!  "  Mark  repeated. 

"  Yes.  You  might  guess  for  a  year,  and  I  don't  suppose 
that  you  would  hit  it.  It  is  rather  a  curious  thing. 
Nearly  twenty  years  ago " 

"  I  can  guess  it  before  you  go  any  further,"  Mark 
exclaimed,  leaping  up  from  the  seat  that  he  had  just 
taken.     "  Your  people  received  a  box  from  India." 

"  That  is  so  Mark;  although  how  you  guessed  it  I  don't 
know." 

"  We  have  been  searching  for  it  for  years,"  Mark 
replied.  "  Our  lawyer,  Prendergast,  wrote  to  you  about 
that  box;  at  least,  he  wrote  to  you  asking  if  you  had  any 
property  belonging  to  Colonel  Thorndyke,  and  your  people 
wrote  to  say  they  hadn't." 

"  Yes,  I  remember  I  wrote  to  him  myself.  Of  course 
that  was  before  you  did  me  that  great  service,  and  I  did 
not  know  your  name,  and  we  had  not  the  name  on  our 
books.     What  is  in  the  box?  " 

"  Jewels  worth  something  like  fifty  thousand  pounds." 

"  By  Jove,  I  congratulate  you,  old  fellow;  that  is  to 
6ay,  if  you  have  the  handling  of  it.  Well,  this  is  what 
happened.  The  box  was  sent  to  us  by  a  firm  in  Calcutta, 
together  with  bills  for  £50,000.  The  instructions  were 
that  the  money  was  to  be  invested  in  stock,  and  that  we 
were  to  manage  it  and  to  take  £100  a  year  for  so  doing. 
The  rest  of  the  interest  of  the  money  was  to  be  invested. 
The  box  was  a  very  massive  one,  and  was  marked  with 
the  letters  X.  Y.  Z.    It  was  very  carefully  sealed.     Our 

249 


250  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

instructions  were  that  the  owner  of  the  box  and  the 
money  might  present  himself  at  any  time." 

"  And  that  the  proof  of  his  ownership  was  to  be  that 
he  was  to  use  the  word  '  Masulipatam,'  "  Mark  broke  in, 
"  and  produce  a  gold  coin  that  would,  probably — though 
of  this  I  am  not  certain — correspond  with  the  seals."  He 
got  up  and  went  to  the  cabinet  which  he  had  brought  up 
with  him  from  Crowswood,  unlocked  it,  and  produced  the 
piece  of  paper  and  the  coin. 

"  Yes,  that  looks  like  the  seal,  Thorndyke.  At  any  rate, 
it  is  the  same  sort  of  thing.  Why  on  earth  didn't  you 
come  with  it  before,  and  take  the  things  away?  " 

"  Simply  because  I  did  not  know  where  to  go  to.  My 
uncle  was  dying  when  he  came  home,  and  told  my  father 
about  the  treasure,  but  he  died  suddenly,  and  my  father 
did  not  know  whether  it  was  sent  to  England  or  com- 
mitted to  someone's  charge  in  India,  or  buried  there. 
We  did  the  only  thing  we  could,  namely,  inquired  at  all 
the  banks  and  agents  here  and  at  all  the  principal  firms 
in  Madras  and  Calcutta  to  ask  if  they  had  in  their 
possession  any  property  belonging  to  the  late  Colonel 
Thorndyke." 

"  You  see,  we  did  not  know,"  Cotter  went  on,  "  any 
more  than  Adam,  to  whom  the  box  belonged.  Fortu- 
nately, the  agent  sent  in  his  communication  a  sealed  let- 
ter, on  the  outside  of  which  was  written,  '  This  is  to  re- 
main unopened,  but  if  no  one  before  that  date  presents 
himself  with  the  token  and  password,  it  is  to  be  read  on 
the  18th  of  August,  1789/  That  was  yesterday,  you 
know." 

"  Yes,  that  was  my  cousin's  eighteenth  birthday.  We 
thought  if  my  uncle  had  left  the  box  in  anyone's  charge 
he  would  probably  have  given  him  some  such  instructions, 
for  at  that  time  there  was  hard  fighting  in  India,  and  he 
might  have  been  killed  any  day,  and  would  therefore 
naturally  have  made  some  provisions  for  preventing  the 
secret  dying  with  him." 

"  We  did  not  think  of  it  until  this  morning  early, 
though  we  have  been  rather  curious  over  it  ourselves. 
When  we  opened  it,  inside  was  another  letter  addressed 
'  To  be  delivered  to  John  Thorndyke,  Esquire,  at  Crawley, 


■'COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  251 

near  Hastings,  or  at  Crowswood,  Reigate,  or  in  the  event 
of  his  death  to  his  executors.'  " 

"  I  am  one  of  his  executors,"  Mark  said:  "  Mr.  Prender- 
gast,  the  lawyer,  is  the  other.  I  think  1  had  better  go 
round  to  him  to-morrow  and  open  the  letter  there." 

"  Oh,  I  should  think  you  might  open  it  at  once,  Thorn- 
dyke.  It  will  probably  only  contain  instructions,  and, 
at  any  rate,  as  you  have  the  coin  and  the  word,  you  could 
come  round  to-morrow  morning  and  get  the  chest  out  if 
you  want  it." 

"  I  won't  do  that,"  Mark  said;  "  the  coffer  contains 
gems  worth  over  £50,000,  and  I  would  very  much  rather 
it  remained  in  your  keeping  until  I  decide  what  to  do 
with  it.     How  large  is  it  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  square  box,  about  a  foot  each  way;  and  it  is 
pretty  heavy,  probably  from  the  setting  of  the  jewels. 
Well,  anyhow,  I  am  heartily  glad,  Thorndyke.  I  know, 
of  course,  that  you  are  well  off,  still  £100,000 — for  the 
money  has  doubled  itself  since  we  had  it — to  say  nothing 
of  the  jewels,  is  a  nice  plum  to  drop  into  anyone's 
mouth." 

"  Very  nice  indeed,  although  only  half  of  it  comes  to 
me  under  my  uncle's  will.  To  tell  you  the  truth,  I  am 
more  glad  that  the  mystery  has  been  solved  than  at^ 
getting  4;he  money;  the  affair  was  a  great  worry  to  my 
father,  and  has  been  so  to  me.  I  felt  that  I  ought  to 
search  for  the  treasure,  and  yet  the  probability  of  finding 
it  seemed  so  small  that  I  felt  the  thing  was  hopeless,  and 
that  really  the  only  chance  was  that  my  uncle  would 
have  taken  just  the  course  he  did,  and  have  fixed  some 
date  when  the  treasure  should  be  handed  over,  if  not  asked 
for.  I  rather  fancied  that  it  would  not  have  been  for 
another  three  years,  for  that  is  when  my  cousin  comes  of 
age." 

"What  cousin  do  you  mean?"  Philip  Cotter  asked. 
"  I  did  not  know  you  had  one." 

"  Well,  that  is  at  present  a  secret,  Cotter — one  of  the 
mysteries  connected  with  my  uncle's  will.  For  myself,  I 
would  tell  it  in  the  market-place  to-morrow,  but  she 
wishes  it  to  be  preserved  at  present;  you  shall  certainly 
know  as  soon  as  anyone.     By  the  way,  I  have  not  seen 


252  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

you  at  Mrs.  Cunningham's  for  the  last  week,  and  you 
used  to  be  a  pretty  regular  visitor." 

"  No,"  the  young  man  said  gloomily;  "  I  don't  mind 
telling  you  that  Miss  Conyers  refused  me  a  fortnight  ago. 
I  never  thought  that  I  had  much  chance,  but  I  had  just 
a  shadow  of  hope,  and  that  is  at  an  end  now." 

"  Perhaps  in  the  future "  Mark  suggested  for  the 

sake  of  saying  something. 

"  No;  I  said  as  much  as  that  to  her,  and  she  replied 
that  it  would  always  be  the  same,  and  I  gathered  from 
her  manner,  although  she  did  not  exactly  say  so,  that 
there  was  someone  else  in  the  case,  and  yet  I  have  never 
met  anyone  often  there." 

"  Perhaps  you  are  mistaken,"  Mark  said. 

"  Well,  whether  or  not,  there  is  clearly  no  hope  for  me. 
I  am  very  sorry,  but  it  is  no  use  moping  over  it.  My 
father  and  mother  like  her  so  much,  and  they  are  anxious 
for  me  to  marry  and  settle  down;  altogether,  it  would 
have  been  just  the  thing.  I  do  not  know  whether  she 
has  any  money,  and  did  not  care,  for  of  course  I  shall 
have  plenty.  I  shall  be  a  junior  partner  in  another  six 
months;  my  father  told  me  so  the  other  day.  He  said 
that  at  one  time  he  was  afraid  that  I  should  never  come 
into  the  house,  for  that  it  would  not  have  been  fair  to 
the  others  to  take  such  a  reckless  fellow  in,  but  that  I 
seemed  to  have  reformed  so  thoroughly  since  that  affair 
that  if  I  continued  so  for  another  six  months  they  should 
have  no  hesitation  in  giving  me  a  share." 

It  was  too  late  to  go  up  to  Islington  that  evening.  In 
the  morning  Mark  went  with  the  still  unopened  letter  to 
the  solicitor's.  The  old  lawyer  congratulated  him  most 
heartily  when  he  told  him  of  the  discovery  that  he  had 
made. 

"  I  am  glad  indeed,  Mark;  not  so  much  for  the  sake 
of  the  money,  but  because  I  was  afraid  that  that  con- 
founded treasure  was  going  to  unsettle  your  life.  When 
a  man  once  begins  treasure-hunting  it  becomes  a  sort  of 
craze,  and  he  can  no  more  give  it  up  than  an  opium 
smoker  can  the  use  of  the  drug.  Thank  goodness,  that  is 
over;  so  the  capital  amount  is  doubled,  and  you  are 
accordingly  worth  £70,000  more  than  you  were  this  time 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'8  SECRET.'  253 

yesterday — a  fine  windfall!     Now  let  us  see  what  your 
uncle  says." 

He  broke  the  seal.  The  letter  was  a  short  one,  and 
began: 

"  My  Dear  John: 

"•If  you  have  not,  before  you  receive  this,  got  my 
treasure,  you  will  get  it  on  the  18th  or  19th  of  August, 
1789.  I  have  made  a  will  which  will  give  you  full  instruc- 
tions what  to  do  with  it.  I  may  say,  though,  that  I  have 
left  it  between  a  little  daughter  who  was  born  six  months 
ago,  and  your  son  Mark.  My  own  intentions  are  to  stop 
out  here  until  I  get  the  rank  of  general,  and  I  have  taken 
the  measures  that  I  have  done  in  case  a  bullet  or  a  sharp 
attack  of  fever  carries  me  off  suddenly.  I  hope  that 
you  will  have  carried  out  the  provisions  of  my  will,  and 
I  hope  also  that  I  shall  have  come  home  and  talked  the 
whole  matter  over  with  you  before  I  go  under. 

"  Your  affectionate  brother." 

"  A  singular  man,"  Mr.  Prendergast  said,  as  he  laid  the 
letter  down  on  the  table  beside  him.  "  What  trouble 
these  crotchety  people  do  give!  I  suppose  you  have  alto- 
gether put  aside  that  folly  of  his  about  the  jewels?" 

"  Well,  no,  I  can't  say  that  I  have,  Mr.  Prendergast. 
Do  you  know  that  I  have  a  fancy — it  may  only  be  a  fancy, 
but  if  so,  I  cannot  shake  it  off — that  I  am  watched  by 
Lascars.  There  was  one  standing  at  the  corner  of  the 
street  as  I  came  up  this  morning,  and  again  and  again  I 
have  run  across  one.  It  is  not  always  the  same  man,  nor 
have  I  any  absolute  reasons  for  believing  that  they  are 
watching  me;  still,  somehow  or  other,  I  do  come  across 
them  more  frequently  than  seems  natural." 

"Pooh,  nonsense,  Mark!  I  should  have  thought  that 
you  were  too  sensible  a  fellow  to  have  such  ridiculous 
fancies  in  your  head." 

"  Of  course,  I  should  never  have  thought  of  such  a 
thing,  Mr.  Prendergast,  if  it  had  not  been  for  what  my 
father  told  me,  that  my  uncle  was  desperately  in  earnest 
about  it,  and  had  an  intense  conviction  that  someone 
watched  his  every  movement." 


254  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"  Don't  let  us  talk  of  such  folly  any  longer,"  the  lawyer 
said  irritably.  "  Now  that  you  have  got  the  money,  the 
best  thing  you  can  do  is  to  go  at  once  and  carry  out 
what  was  the  wish  both  of  your  father  and  your  uncle, 
and  ask  your  cousin  to  marry  you;  that  will  put  an  end 
to  the  whole  business,  and  I  can  tell  you  that  I  am 
positivel}T  convinced  that  the  day  she  gets  twenty-one  she 
will  renounce  the  property,  and  that  if  you  refuse  to  take 
it  she  will  pass  it  over  to  some  hospital  or  other.  You 
cannot  do  better  than  prevent  her  from  carrying  out 
such  an  act  of  folly  as  that,  and  the  only  way  that  I  can 
see  is  by  your  marrying  her.  I  gathered  from  what  you 
said  when  I  gave  you  the  same  advice  at  Eeigate  that  you 
liked  her  and  should  have  done  it  had  it  not  been  for  her 
coming  into  the  estate  instead  of  you.  Well,  you  are  now 
in  a  position  to  ask  her  to  marry  you  without  the  possi- 
bility of  its  being  supposed  that  you  are  a  fortune- 
hunter." 

"  I  will  think  about  it,  Mr.  Prendergast.  Of  course 
this  money  does  make  a  considerable  difference  in  my 
position;  however,  I  shall  do  nothing  until  I  have  got  the 
jewels  off  my  hands." 

"  Well,  a  couple  of  days  will  manage  that,"  the  lawyer 
said;  "  you  have  only  got  to  take  the  box  to  a  first-class 
jeweler,  and  get  him  to  value  the  things  and  make  you  an 
offer  for  the  whole  of  them." 

Mark  did  not  care  to  press  the  subject,  and  on  leaving 
went  to  Cotter's  Bank.  He  was  at  once  shown  into  his 
friend's  room,  and  the  latter  took  him  to  his  father. 

"  It  is  curious,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  latter  said  heartily, 
"  that  we  should  have  been  keeping  your  money  all  this 
time  without  having  the  slightest  idea  that  it  belonged 
to  you.  We  are  ready  at  once  to  pay  it  over  to  your 
order,  for  if  you  pronounce  the  word  you  know  of,  and 
I  find  that  the  coin  you  have  corresponds  with  the  seal 
on  the  box,  the  necessary  proof  will  be  given  us  that  you 
have  authority  to  take  it  away.  I  have  had  the  box 
brought  up  this  morning,  so  that  we  can  compare  the 
seal."  i 

The  box  was  taken  out  of  the  strong  safe,  and  it  was  at 
once  seen  that  the  coin  corresponded  with  the  seals. 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  255 

"  I  will  leave  it  with  you  for  the  present,  Mr.  Cotter; 
it  contains  a  large  amount  of  jewels,  and  until  I  have 
decided  what  to  do  with  them  I  would  rather  leave  them; 
it  would  he  madness  to  have  £50,000  worth  of  gems  in 
a  London  lodging,  even  for  a  single  night.  As  to  the 
money,  that  also  had  better  remain  as  it  is  at  present 
invested.  As  I  told  your  son — that  and  the  jewels  are 
the  joint  property  of  myself  and  another.  I  dare  say 
that  in  a  few  days  half  of  the  money  will  be  transferred 
to  the  name  of  the  other  legatee;  that  can  be  easily  done. 
I  shall  get  my  lawyer,  Mr.  Prendergast,  to  call  upon  you, 
Mr.  Cotter.  I  suppose  it  would  be  better  that  some  legal 
proof  that  we  are  entitled  to  the  money  should  be 
given." 

"  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  him  and  to  take  his  instructions," 
the  banker  said;  "  but  in  point  of  fact  I  regard  the  prop- 
erty as  yours;  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  wills  or 
other  arrangements.  I  simply  received  the  box  and  the 
cash  with  an  order  that  they  should  be  delivered  to 
whomsoever  should  come  with  the  word  '  Masulipatam ' 
and  a  coin  to  match  the  seals.  That  you  have  done,  and 
with  subsequent  dispositions  I  have  no  concern.  I  shall 
be  happy  to  keep  this  box  for  you  as  long  as  you  should 
think  proper;  and  I  have  also  written  out  an  acknowl- 
edgement that  I  hold  securities  of  the  value,  at  the  clos- 
ing prices  yesterday,  of  £103,000  16s./"  and  he  handed 
the  paper  to  Mark. 

As  the  latter  left  the  bank  he  looked  up  and  down  the 
street,  and  muttered  an  angry  exclamation  as  he  caught 
sight  of  a  rough-looking  fellow  just  turning  a  corner  into 
a  side  street.  The  glance  was  so  momentary  a  one  that 
he  could  not  say  whether  the  man  was  a  colored  seaman; 
but  he  certainly  thought  that  he  was  a  Lascar. 

"  I  am  going  to  have  trouble  about  that  bracelet,"  he 
said  to  himself,  as  he  hailed  a  hackney  coach  and  told 
him  to  drive  to  Islington.  "I  am  convinced  that  the 
Colonel  was  right,  and  that  there  are  some  men  over  in 
this  country  with  the  fixed  purpose  of  seeing  what  is  done 
n-ith  those  jewels,  and  obtaining  them  if  possible.  TIow 
they  could  tell  that  they  were  deposited  at  Cotter's  beats 
me  altogether.     It  may  be  indeed  that  they  really  knew 


256  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

nothing  about  it,  and  have  simply  been  watching  me. 
They  can  hardly  have  been  watching  me  for  the  last  nine 
months,  and  yet,  curiously  enough,  though  I  have  never 
given  the  matter  a  thought  since,  Charley  Gibbons  said 
that  it  was  a  dark-colored  man  who  brought  the  news 
that  took  them  to  my  rescue  and  saved  my  life.  I  have 
often  run  against  Lascars,  and  if  they  have  taken  this 
trouble  all  along,  now  that  they  have  seen  me  come  out 
of  the  bank,  I  shall  be  watched  night  and  day. 

"  It  is  a  creepy  sort  of  idea.  I  should  not  be  afraid  of 
any  number  of  them  if  they  attacked  me  openly;  but 
there  is  no  saying  what  they  might  do.  I  wish  Eamoo 
had  been  here.  I  would  have  consulted  him  about  it; 
but  as  I  got  a  letter  from  him  only  last  week  saying  that 
he  had,  on  the  day  of  writing  it,  arrived  in  Calcutta,  it 
is  of  no  use  wishing  that.  At  any  rate,  I  cannot  do} 
better  than  stick  to  the  plan  that  my  uncle  sketched  out, 
and  take  them  across  to  Amsterdam.  It  would  be  very 
unfair  to  take  them  to  any  jeweler  here.  He  might  have 
them  in  his  possession  for  a  week  or  ten  da}^s  before  he 
made  me  any  definite  offer  for  them,  and  during  trjat 
time  I  would  not  give  a  fig  for  his  life.  If  I  distribute 
the  stones  at  Amsterdam  they  would  hardly  set  about 
attacking  twelve  diamond  merchants  one  after  another. 
Well,  at  any  rate,  I  must  say  nothing  about  the  affair  to 
Millicent  and  Mrs.  Cunningham.  It  was  bad  enough  my 
running  risks  in  the  pursuit  of  Bastow;  but  this  would 
be  ten  times  worse,  and  I  know  Millicent  would  be  for 
letting  the  things  remain  for  good  at  the  banker's.  But 
I  have  no  idea  of  allowing  myself  to  be  frightened  by  two 
or  three  black  scoundrels  into  throAving  away  £50,000." 

Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Millicent  were  sitting  in  their 
bonnets  in  the  parlor. 

"  Here  you  are  at  last,  sir,"  the  girl  said.  "  Another 
five  minutes,  and  we  should  have  gone  out.  You  told  us 
that  you  would  come  early,  and  now  it  is  twelve  o'clock; 
and  you  are  generally  so  punctual  in  your  appointments. 
What  have  you  got  to  say  for  yourself?  " 

"  A  good  many  things  have  happened  since  then,  Milli- 
cent. Last  night  your  friend  Mr.  Cotter  called  upon, 
me." 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  257 

"Why  do  you  say' my  friend?  He  was  your  friend, 
and  it  was  entirely  through  you  that  we  knew  him  at  all." 

"  Well,  we  will  say  '  our  friend/  Millicent;  and  he 
made  a  communication  to  me  that  this  morning  I  had  to 
go  to  Mr.  Prendergast  and  make  a  communication  to  him." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  your  communications  ?  "  Milli- 
cent asked,  laughing.     "  You  are  quite  mysterious,  Mark." 

"  And  then  I  had  to  go,"  he  went  on,  without  heeding 
her  interruption,  "  to  Cotter's  Bank,  where  I  saw  both 
our  friend  and  his  father,  and  there  is  the  result  of  these 
communications  and  that  interview; "  and  he  threw  the 
paper  to  her. 

"  What  does  it  mean?  "  she  asked  in  astonishment,  after 
glancing  through  it. 

"  It  means,  dear,  that  your  father  took  exactly  the 
precautions  I  thought  he  would  take,  and  after  sending 
his  money  and  jewels  home,  he  sent  a  sealed  letter  to  the 
firm  with  whom  he  deposited  them,  which  happened  to 
be  Cotter's,  with  instructions  that  should  no  one  present 
himself  with  the  word  and  coin  by  the  18th  of  August, 
1789 — that  is  to  say,  on  your  eighteenth  birthday — the 
envelope  should  be  opened;  it  was  so  opened,  and  it  con- 
tained a  letter  that  was  to  be  sent  to  my  father,  or,  in 
the  case  of  his  death  before  that  date,  to  his  executors." 

"  How  wonderful!  "  the  girl  said.  "  I  had  quite  given 
up  all  idea  of  it.  But  how  is  it  that  it  came  to  be  so 
much?     Have  they  sold  the  jewels?  " 

"  No;  you  see  it  is  the  compound  interest  going  on 
for  seventeen  years,  and  perhaps  some  rise  in  the  value 
of  the  securities,  that  has  doubled  the  original  sum  in- 
vested. As  for  the  jewels,  I  have  left  them  at  the  bank; 
I  should  not  care  about  having  £50,000  worth  of  such 
things  in  my  rooms  and  I  should  not  think  that  you 
would  like  to  have  them  here,  either." 

"  Certainly  not,"  Mrs.  Cunningham  said  emphatically; 
"  you  did  quite  right,  Mark.  I  don't  think  I  could  sleep, 
even  if  you  had  half  a  dozen  of  your  detective  friends 
po? ted  round  the  house." 

"  Still  I  suppose  we  shall  have  a  chance  of  seeing 
them?  "  Millicent  said. 

"  Certainly.     1  can  make  an  appointment  with  Philip 


258  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

Cotter  for  you  see  them  at  the  bank;  or  if  I  take  them 
to  a  jeweler  to  value,  you  could  see  them  there.  But  I 
should  think  that  the  bank  would  be  the  best.  I  am  sure 
that  Cotter  would  put  his  room  at  your  disposal,  and, 
of  course,  if  you  would  like  to  have  some  of  them  for 
yourself  you  could  select  any  you  liked,  but  I  expect 
that  they  won't  look  much  in  their  present  settings;  the 
Indian  jewelers  have  not  the  knack  of  setting  off  gems. 
However,  there  is  no  hurry  about  them  one  way  or. 
another.  The  money,  I  have  told  Cotter's  father,  shall, 
for  the  present,  remain  as  it  is  invested;  it  is  all  in  the 
Funds,  Cotter  said,  for  although  the  instructions  were 
that  it  was  to  be  put  into  good  securities,  he  did  not  feel 
justified  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  going  outside 
Government  stock.  Mr.  Prendergast  is  quite  of  opinion 
that  it  would  be  better  to  make  no  change  until  you  come 
of  age.  I  did  not  know  whether  you  would  wait  till  then, 
for  some  purpose  or  other  you  might  want  to  use  some 
of  it." 

Millicent  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  I  think  I  would  much  rather  have  had  just  the  money 
I  had  before,  Mark;  all  this  will  be  a  great  nuisance,  I 
am  sure.  I  think  there  ought  to  be  a  law  against  women 
having  more  than  £20,000,  whether  in  money  or  in 
land." 

Mark  laughed. 

"  It  would  be  a  bad  thing  for  spendthrift  young  noble- 
men, Millicent.  How  are  they  to  pay  off  their  debts  and 
mortgages  if  there  were  no  heiresses  ready  to  do  so  in 
exchange  for  a  title?  " 

"  It  would  be  a  good  thing  for  them,  I  consider,"  the 
girl  said  indignantly.  "  In  the  first  place,  they  would 
not  impoverish  themselves  if  they  knew  that  there  was 
no  way  of  building  up  their  fortune  again,  and  in  the 
next  place,  if  they  did  ruin  themselves  they  would  have 
to  either  set  to  work  to  earn  an  honest  living  or  blow 
out  their  brains,  if  they  have  any  to  blow  out.  I  can 
assure  you  that  I  don't  feel  at  all  exultant  at  getting  all 
this  money,  and  I  think  that  my  father  was  quite  right 
in  wishing  that  I  should  know  nothing  about  it  until  I 
married;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  I  am  heartily  glad,  more 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  259 

glad  than  I  can  say,  Mark,  that  you  have  come  into  your 
share." 

"  I  am  glad  for  one  reason,  Millicent;  that  is,  that 
this  must  put  an  end  to  the  ridiculous  idea  you  have  of 
giving  up  Crowswood.  Your  father  has  made  me  rich 
beyond  anything  I  could  possibly  have  expected  from  him. 
I  suddenly  find  myself  a  wealthy  man,  and  I  can  buy 
another  estate  for  myself  worth  more  than  Crowswood  if 
inclined  to  settle  down  as  a  squire;  therefore  your  theory 
that  I  have  been  disappointed  in  not  inheriting  what  I 
thought  was  my  father's  estate  falls  to  the  ground  alto- 
gether. In  no  case  would  I  ever  have  accepted  your 
sacrifice.  If  you  had  liked  to  hand  it  over  to  St.  Bar- 
tholomew's or  Guy's  Hospital,  or  to  give  it  away  to  any 
other  charity,  I  would  not  have  prevented  you,  but  I 
would  never  have  accepted  it  for  myself.  Now,  thank 
goodness,  the  question  cannot  arise;  for  you  must  see 
that,  even  looking  at  the  matter  from  a  purely  business 
point  of  view,  I  have  benefited  to  an  enormous  and  alto- 
gether unexpected  extent  by  your  father's  will,  and  if 
any  contest  between  us  could  arise  it  should  be  on  the 
ground  that  he  has  acted  unfairly  to  you  by  giving  me 
so  large  a  proportion  of  the  money  that,  in  the  course  of 
nature,  you  should  have  inherited.  It  was  not  even  as  if 
he  had  known  and  liked  me,  for  I  was  but  four  years  old 
at  the  time  he  wrote  the  letter  saying  that  I  was  to  share 
the  money  and  jewels  with  you." 

"  You  are  very  obstinate  and  very  disagreeable,  Mark," 
she  said,  with  tears  in  her  eyes. 

"  I  think  the  obstinacy  has  been  principally  on  your 
side,  Millicent;  though  certainly  I  should  not  think  of  say- 
ing that  you  have  been  disagreeable.  It  has  been  an 
excess  of  kindheartedness  on  your  part,  and  you  have 
resolutely  closed  your  eyes  to  the  fact  that,  had  I  been 
willing  to  take  advantage  of  your  generosity,  I  should  have 
lacked  the  courage  to  do  so,  for  I  should  have  been  pointed 
at  wherever  I  went,  as  a  mean  fellow  who  took  advantage 
of  his  little  cousin's  romantic  generosity.  Pray,  dear,  let 
us  say  no  more  about  it.  We  are  two  rich  young  people; 
we  have  both  an  estate;  yours,  I  grant,  is  the  larger,  but 
if  I  choose  I  can  increase  mine,  until  it  is  quite  as  large  as 


260  COLONEL   THOBNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

Crowswood.  We  can  be  better  friends  than  we  have  been 
for  the  last  year,  because  this  point  of  dispute  has  always 
stood  between  us  and  made  us  uncomfortable.  Now  you 
will  have  to  think  over  what  you  would  like  done,  and 
whether  you  wish  any  change  made  in  your  manner  of 
living." 

"  Did  you  tell  Mr.  Cottef,"  Millicent  laughed,  after  a 
pause,  "  that  I  had  a  half-share  in  the  money?  " 

"  No,  that  was  a  matter  for  you  to  decide,  not  for  me. 
I  told  him  that  I  was  only  a  half-shareholder,  but  there 
was  no  necessity  to  say  who  it  was  who  had  the  other 
half.  When  I  was  talking  to  Philip  Cotter,  the  words 
1  my  cousin '  slipped  out,  but  he  did  not  associate  it  in 
any  way  with  you.  It  might  have  been  the  son  of  another 
brother  or  of  a  sister  of  my  father's." 

"  In  that  case,  then,  we  will  certainly  make  no  change, 
will  we,  Mrs.  Cunningham?" 

"  I  think,  Millicent,  that  Mr.  Prendergast  and  Mark 
will  probably  be  of  opinion  that  you  ought  now  to  be 
introduced  regularly  into  society.  The  fact  that  you  are 
a  rich  heiress  might,  as  your  father  so  much  wished, 
remain  a  secret.  But  it  is  one  thing  having  this  blazoned 
about  and  quite  another  for  you  to  be  living  quietly  here, 
where,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Cotter  and  a  few  other 
friends,  you  have  no  society  whatever.  Certainly  it  was 
not  the  wish  of  your  father  that  you  should  remain 
unmarried.  You  are  quite  pretty  and  nice  enough  to  be 
sought  for  yourself  alone,  and  I  must  say  that  I  think, 
now  that  you  have  finished  with  your  various  masters,  it 
would  be  well  that  you  should  go  out  a  good  deal  more, 
and  that  as  a  first  step  we  should  go  down  to  Bath  this 
year  instead  of  paying  another  visit  to  Weymouth,  as  we 
had  arranged." 

"  I  don't  want  any  change  at  all,  Mrs.  Cunningham. 
If  I  am  to  get  married  I  shall  be  married;  if  I  am  not  I 
shall  not  fret  about  it." 

"But  for  all  that,  Millicent,"  Mark  said,  "Mrs. 
Cunningham  is  right.  We  quite  agree  that  there  is  no 
occasion  whatever  for  you  to  go  about  labeled  '  A  good 
estate  and  over  £70,000  in  cash,'  but  I  do  think  that  it 
is   right  that  you   should   go   into   society.      With   the 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  261 

exception  of  Philip  Cotter,  Dick  Chetwynd,  and  two  or 
three  other  of  my  friends,  you  really  know  very  few 
people.  You  have  now  gone  out  of  mourning,  and  I 
think  that  Mrs.  Cunningham's  proposal  that  you  should 
go  down  to  Bath  is  a  very  good  one.  I  shall  not  be  sorry 
for  a  change  myself,  for  I  have  been  engrossed  in  my 
work  for  a  long  time  now.  I  can  go  down  a  day  or  two 
before  you,  and  get  you  comfortable  lodgings,  and  will 
myself  stay  at  a  hotel.  Although  I  have  no  intimate 
friends  beyond  those  from  Keigate,  I  know  a  large  number 
of  men  of  fashion  from  meeting  them  at  the  boxing 
schools  and  other  places,  and  could  introduce  you  both, 
and  get  you  into  society." 

"  I  am  altogether  opposed  to  the  idea/'  Millicent  said 
decidedly.  "  You  want  to  trot  me  out  like  a  horse  for 
sale." 

"  No,  Millicent,"  Mark  said  calmly.  "  I  only  want  you 
to  have  the  same  advantages  that  other  girls  have, 
neither  more  nor  less,  and  for  you  to  enjoy  yourself  as 
others  do.  There  is  nothing  undignified  or  objectionable 
about  that,  especially  as  we  are  agreed  that  nothing  shall 
be  said  about  your  fortune.  Well,  we  will  think  it  over. 
Mr.  Prendergast  and  I  certainly  do  not  wish  to  act  as 
tyrants,  and  there  is  no  occasion  to  come  to  a  decision  in 
a  hurry.  We  have  only  discovered  our  good  fortune  to- 
day, and  can  scarcely  appreciate  the  difference  that  it  will 
make  to  us.  We  can  think  over  what  will  be  for  the  best 
at  our  leisure,  and  see  if  we  cannot  hit  upon  some  plan 
that  will  be  agreeable  to  you." 

"  Thank  you,  Mark,"  she  said  gratefully.  "  I  am  afraid 
that  you  must  think  me  very  disagreeable  and  cross; 
but  though  you,  as  a  man,  have  not  the  same  sort  of  feel- 
ings, I  can  assure  you  that  I  feel  all  this  money  and  so 
on  to  be  a  heavy  burden;  and  were  it  not  for  your  sake  I 
could  wish  heartily  that  this  treasure  had  never  been 
discovered  at  all." 

"  I  can  quite  understand  that,"  he  said  quietly.  "  At 
the  present  moment,  even,  I  do  not  see  that  it  will  be  of 
much  advantage  to  me;  but  it  may  be  that  some  day  I 
shall  see  it  in  a  different  light.  It  has  come  upon  me 
almost  as  suddenly  as  it  has  upon  you.     I  thought  that 


262  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

after  I  had  finished  with  the  Bastow  affair  I  should  set 
to  work  to  find  out  this  treasure,  and  that  it  would 
probably  take  me  out  to  India,  occupy  me  there  for 
some  time,  and  that  afterwards  I  might  travel  through 
other  places,  and  bs  away  from  England  three  or  four 
years.  Now  the  matter  is  altogether  altered,  and  I  shall 
be  some  time  before  I  form  any  fresh  plans.  In  fact, 
these  must  depend  upon  circumstances." 

Mrs.  Cunningham  had  left  the  room  two  or  three 
minutes  before,  thinking  that  Mark  might  be  able  to  talk 
her  charge  into  a  more  reasonable  state  of  mind  were  he 
alone  with  h<er,  and  he  added: 

"  Of  one  circumstance  in  particular." 

She  looked  up  inquiringly. 

"  Well,  Millicent,  it  depends  a  great  deal  upon  you.  I 
know  you  think  that  all  that  has  happened  during  the 
past  year  has  been  a  little  hard  upon  you,  and  I 
thoroughly  agree  with  you;  you  were  fond  of  Crowswood, 
and  were  very  happy  there,  and  the  change  to  this 
somewhat  dull  house,  just  at  a  time  when  you  are  of  an 
age  to  enjoy  pleasure,  has  been  a  trial.  Then,  too,  there 
has  been  this  question  of  the  estate  upon  your  mind. 
But  you  must  remember  it  has  been  somewhat  of  a  trial 
to  me  also.  I  grant  that  I  have  had  plenty  of  occupation 
which  has  been  in  every  way  beneficial  to  me,  and  have 
not  at  all  lamented  leaving  the  country,  but  in  one  respect 
it  has  been  a  trial.  I  don't  know  whether  it  ever  entered 
your  mind,  before  that  sad  time  at  home,  that  I  was 
getting  to  care  for  you  in  a  very  different  way  to  that  in 
which  I  had  done  before. 

"  My  father,  I  think,  observed  it,  for  he  threw  out  a 
very  plain  hint  once  that  he  would  very  gladly  see  us 
coming  together.  However,  I  never  spoke  of  it  to  you. 
I  was  young  and  you  were  young.  It  seemed  to  me  that 
there  was  plenty  of  time,  and  that,  moreover,  it  would 
not  be  fair  for  me  to  speak  to  you  until  you  had  had  the 
opportunity  of  going  out  and  of  seeing  other  men.  Then 
came  the  evening  before  his  death,  when  my  father  told 
me  how  matters  really  stood,  and  he  again  said  that  there 
was  a  way  by  which  all  trouble  could  be  obviated.  But 
I  saw  that  it  was  not  so,  and  that  the  hope  I  had  enter- 


COLONEL  THORNDTKE'S  SECRET.  263 

tained  must  be  put  aside.  I  had  never  told  you  I  loved 
you  when  I  seemed  to  be  the  heir  of  the  property  and 
you  only  the  daughter  of  an  old  comrade  of  his,  and  I 
saw  that  were  I  to  speak  now,  when  you  were  the  heiress, 
it  could  not  but  appear  to  you  that  it  was  the  estate  and 
not  you  that  I  wanted,  and  I  felt  my  lips  were  sealed  for- 
ever. Mr.  Prendergast  said  that  day  when  he  came  down 
to  the  funeral,  and  you  told  him  that  you  would  not  take 
the  property,  that  it  might  be  managed  in  another  way, 
and  you  said  that  you  did  not  want  to  be  married  for 
your  money;  so  you  see  you  saw  it  in  exactly  the  same 
light  as  I  did. 

"  My  first  thought  this  morning,  when  Mr.  Cotter  told 
me  that  the  money  had  mounted  up  to  over  £100,000,  was 
that  it  would  unseal  my  lips.  You  were  still  better  off 
than  I  was,  but  the  difference  was  now  immaterial.  I  was 
a  rich  man,  and  had  not  the  smallest  occasion  to  marry 
for  money.  Whether  I  married  a  girl  without  a  penny, 
or  an  heiress,  could  make  but  little  difference  to  me,  as 
I  have  certainly  no  ambition  to  become  a  great  landowner. 
I  still  think  that  it  would  have  been  more  fair  to  you  to 
give  you  the  opportunity  of  seeing  more  of  the  society 
of  the  world  before  speaking  to  you,  but  you  see  you  are 
opposed  to  that,  and  therefore  it  would  be  the  same  did 
I  wait  patiently  another  year,  which  I  don't  think  I 
should  be  able  to  do.  I  love  you,  Millicent.  It  is  only 
during  the  past  eighteen  months,  when  I  have  thought 
that  I  had  lost  you,  that  I  have  known  how  much  I  love 
you,  and  how  much  my  happiness  depends  upon  you.  I 
can  truly  say  that  were  you  penniless,  it  would  make  no 
shadow  of  difference  to  me.  It  is  no  longer  a  question 
of  arranging  matters  comfortably:  it  is  a  question  of 
love.  The  estate  is  nothing  to  me.  It  never  has  been 
anything,  and  it  does  not  count  at  all  in  the  scale.  I 
hope  that  you  will  put  it  altogether  out  of  your  mind  in 
giving  me  an  answer;  and  that  if  you  cannot  say  as 
truly  and  wholly  as  I  do,  '  I  love  you,'  that  you  will 
say  as  frankly  as  you  have  always  ppoken  to  me,  ■  I 
love  you  verv  much  as  a  cousin,  Mane,  but  not  in  that 
way.'" 

The  girl  had  sat  perfectly  quiet  while  he  was  speaking. 


264  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

He  was  standing  before  her  now,  and  he  took  one  of  her 
hands. 

"  I  love  yon,  dear;  I  love  you  with  all  my  heart.  Do  you 
love  me?  " 

Then  she  looked  up  and  rose  to  her  feet,  and  placed 
both  hands  upon  his  shoulders. 

"  As  you  love  me,  so  I  love  you,  Mark." 

After  that,  conversation  languished  till  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham came  into  the  room,  five  minutes  later. 

"  We  have  come  to  the  conclusion,  Mrs.  Cunningham," 
he  said,  "  that  there  will  be  no  necessity  for  the  visit  to 
Bath.  Millicent  is  otherwise  provided  for;  she  has 
promised  to  be  my  wife." 

"  I  am  glad,  Mark,  glad  indeed!  "  and  she  took  Millicent 
in  her  arms  and  kissed  her  tenderly.  "  I  have  all  along 
hoped  for  it,  but  I  began  to  be  afraid  that  you  were 
both  such  obstinate  young  people  that  it  would  never 
come  about.  I  know  that  your  father  wished  it,  Mark, 
and  he  told  me  that  his  brother  had  said  that  it  would 
be  a  good  arrangement  if  some  day  you  should  come  to 
like  each  other.  I  have  guessed  for  the  last  year,  and, 
indeed,  before  then,  that  Millicent  would  not  say  '  No '  if 
you  ever  asked  her;  but  this  stupid  estate  seemed  to 
stand  in  the  way.  Of  late,  I  have  even  come  to  hope  that 
the  obstinate  girl  would  keep  to  her  intention,  and  that 
if,  as  I  knew  would  be  the  case,  you  refused  to  take  the 
estate,  she  would  give  it  away  to  some  charity.  In  that 
case,  there  could  be  nothing  to  prevent  your  speaking; 
and  even  then  you  would  have  been  between  you  very 
fairly  equipped  with  this  world's  goods.  However,  the 
present  is  a  far  better  solution,  and  the  discovery  of  the 
treasure  has  saved  you  from  three  years'  waiting  before 
things  were  straightened  out.  I  feel  as  if  I  were  her 
mother,  Mark,  having  had  her  in  my  charge  since  she 
was  a  baby;  and  as  she  grew  up  it  became  my  fondest 
hope  to  see  you  united  some  day,  and  I  think  that  I 
am  almost  as  pleased  that  my  hope  has  been  fulfilled  as 
you  are  yourselves." 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

After  thinking  over  the  best  way  in  which  to  set  about 
the  work  of  carrying  the  diamonds  to  Amsterdam,  Mark 
decided  upon  asking  the  advice  of  his  late  chief.  The 
latter  said,  as  Mark  entered  his  room: 

"  I  did  not  expect  to  see  you  here  again,  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke." 

"  Well,  sir,  I  have  come  to  ask  your  advice  about  an- 
other matter  altogether." 

"  What  is  it  now?  " 

"  I  have  to  convey  a  diamond  bracelet  of  very  great 
value  across  to  Amsterdam.  I  have  reasons  to  believe 
that  there  is  a  plot  to  seize  it  on  the  way,  and  that  the 
men  engaged  will  hesitate  at  nothing  to  achieve  their 
object.  Under  these  circumstances  I  should  be  very 
much  obliged  if  you  will  tell  me  what  would  be  the  best 
course  to  pursue.  I  must  say  that  the  bracelet  is,  with 
many  other  jewels,  in  a  strong  teak  box  of  about  a  foot 
square,  at  present  in  the  possession  of  our  bankers;  they 
were  brought  from  India  by  my  uncle.  I  imagine  that 
the  rest  of  the  jewels  are  of  comparatively  little  impor- 
tance in  the  eyes  of  these  men,  though  doubtless  they 
would  take  them  also  if  they  lay  their  hands  on  them. 
The  bracelet,  however,  is  of  special  interest  to  them,  not 
so  much  for  its  intrinsic  value,  as  because  it  was  stolen 
from  one  of  their  sacred  idols. 

"  This  was  about  twenty  years  ago;  but  I  have  reason 
to  believe  that  the  search  for  it  on  the  part  of  some 
Hindoos  connected  with  the  temple  has  never  ceased. 
The  soldier  who  took  it  was  murdered;  his  comrade,  into 
whose  hands  they  next  passed,  was  also  murdered.  They 
next  came  to  my  uncle,  who  forwarded  it  at  once  to 
England.  His  bungalows  were  searched  again  and  again, 
until  probably  the  fellows  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
he  must  have  either  buried  it  or  sent  it  away.  Neverthe- 
less, to  the  day  of  his  death  he  was  firmly  convinced  that 

2C5 


266  COLONEL   THOBNDYEE'S  SECRET. 

he  was  closely  followed,  and  every  movement  watched. 
He  warned  my  father  solemnly  that  he  too  would  be 
watched,  but  as  far  as  we  know  it  was  not  so;  at  any 
rate,  we  had  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  house  was  ever 
entered.  On  the  other  hand,  I  am*  convinced  I  have  been 
watched  more  or  less  closely  ever  since  I  came  up  to 
town,  and  as  I  came  out  from  the  bank  yesterday  I  saw  a 
man — a  colored  fellow,  I  believe — on  the  watch. 

"  My  uncle  said  that  my  life  would  not  be  worth  an 
hour's  purchase  so  long  as  I  had  the  bracelet  in  my 
possession,  and  advised  that  it  should  be  taken  straight 
over  to  Amsterdam,  broken  up,  and  the  diamonds  sold 
singly  to  the  merchants  there/'     - 

"  It  is  a  curious  story,  Mr.  Thorndyke.  I  own  to 
ignorance  of  these  Indian  thieves  and  their  ways,  but 
it  certainly  seems  extraordinary  that  so  hopeless  a  quest 
should  be  kept  up  for  so  long  a  time.  You  are  sure  that 
it  is  not  fancy  on  your  part  that  you  have  been  watched? 
I  know  you  are  not  the  sort  of  man  to  take  fancies  in 
your  head,  but  as  you  have  had  the  matter  so  strongly  im- 
pressed upon  you,  you  might  naturally  have  been  inclined 
to  think  this  would  be  the  case  when  it  was  not  so." 

"  No,  I  don't  think  there  is  any  chance  of  my  being 
mistaken.  It  is  only  of  late  that  I  have  thought  about 
it,  but  when  I  did  so  and  thought  over  what  had  passed 
since  I  came  to  London,  I  recalled  the  fact  that  I  had 
very  often  come  across  foreign  seamen;  sometimes  they 
were  Lascars,  at  others  they  might  have  been  Italian  or 
Spanish  seamen;  and  you  see,  sir,  it  was,  as  I  told  you 
at  the  time,  some  foreign  sailor  who  came  and  informed 
Gibbons  that  I  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  gang  of 
criminals,  and  that  I  should  certainly  be  killed  if  I  was  not 
rescued  immediately.  Gibbons  at  once  got  together  half 
a  dozen  fighting  men,  and,  as  you  know,  rescued  me  jast 
in  time.  It  was  extraordinary  that  the  man  never  came 
forward  to  obtain  any  reward." 

"  That  was  a  friendly  act,  Mr.  Thorndyke." 

"Yes,  I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  these  men 
would  be  hostile  to  me  personally;  I  was  not  the  thief. 
I  was  simply  the  person  who  happened  to  be  in  possession, 
or,  rather,  might  come  into  possession  of  the  bracelet. 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  267 

From  the  close  watch  they  had  kept,  they  were,  I  imagine, 
well  aware  that  I  had  not  got  it,  but  may  have  thought, 
and  doubtless  did  think,  that  I  had  some  clew  to  its  hid- 
ing-place, and  should  sooner  or  later  get  it.  With  my 
death  the  clew  might  be  finally  lost,  and  my  life  was  con- 
sequently of  extreme  importance  to  them,  and  therefore 
they  took  steps  to  have  me  rescued,  and  the  fact  that  they 
learned  this  and  knew  how  friendly  I  was  with  Gibbons 
shows  how  close  was  the  watch  kept  over  me.  No  doubt, 
had  Gibbons  refused  to  help  them,  they  would  have  come 
here  at  once." 

"  Certainly,  after  what  you  say  it  would  seem  that 
your  conjecture  is  right,  and  in  this  case,  if  I  were  you, 
I  should  take  the  bracelet  out  of  the  case  and  conceal 
it  about  me.  I  would  not  fetch  it  myself  from  the 
bank." 

"  I  don't  think  I  should  be  much  safer  so,"  Mark  said 
thoughtfully.  "  In  the  first  place,  I  must  go  to  the  bank 
to  get  them,  and  I  might  be  murdered  merely  on  the 
supposition  that  I  had  brought  the  bracelet  away.  In  the 
next  place,  even  if  I  got  to  Amsterdam  safely  and  got  rid 
of  the  bracelet  and  returned  unnoticed  by  them,  a  fresh 
danger  would  arise  when  I  got  the  other  gems  into  my 
possession,  for  they  could  not  be  certain  whether  the 
diamonds  were  still  among  them  or  not." 

"  I  should  hardly  think  that  would  be  the  case  if 
they  watch  you  as  strictly  as  you  believe.  Even  if  none 
of  them  accompanied  you,  they  would  soon  find  out  what 
diamond  merchants  you  went  to,  and  the  leader  might 
call  upon  these  men,  stating  that  he  was  commissioned 
to  purchase  some  diamonds  of  exceptional  value  for  an 
Eastern  Prince,  in  which  case  he  would  be  sure  to  obtain 
sight  of  them. 

I  "  If  I  had  your  business  to  perform,  I  would  not  go 
near  the  bank  again,  but  would  send  some  friend  I  could 
trust  to  go  and  open  the  box,  and  take  out  the  bracelet, 
and  make  it  into  a  small  parcel.  He  should  hand  it  to 
you  privately,  as  you  are  on  your  way  to  embark  for 
Amsterdam.  Then  I  would  take  with  me  one  or  two  of 
my  men,  and,  say,  a  couple  of  your  prizefighters,  and  with 
such  a  guard  you  ought  to  be  fairly  safe." 


268  COLONEL   THORNDTEE'S  SECRET. 

"  I  think  that  is  a  capital  plan,"  Mark  said,  "  and  if 
I  don't  go  to  the  bank  there  will  be  nothing  to  lead  them 
to  suppose  that  I  have  taken  them  out,  or  that  I  am  just 
going  across  to  Holland." 

Mark  then  went  straight  to  Dick  Chetwynd's  lodgings. 

"  I  want  you  to  do  me  a  service,  Dick,"  he  said. 

"  With  pleasure,  Mark.  What  sort  of  service  is  it?  If 
it  is  anything  in  my  power,  you  know  that  you  can  abso- 
lutely rely  upon  me.  You  are  not  going  to  fight  a  duel, 
are  you,  and  want  a  second?  " 

"  No;  quite  another  sort  of  business.  I  will  tell  you 
shortly  what  it  is.  I  have  to  convey  an  extremely  valuable 
diamond  bracelet  to  Amsterdam,  and  I  have  reason  to 
believe  that  there  will  be  an  attempt  to  murder  me,  and 
to  carry  off  the  jewels  before  I  can  dispose  of  them.  It 
happened  in  this  way; "  and  he  then  related  the  history 
of  the  diamonds,  the^  reason  he  was  followed,  and  the 
suggestions  that  the  Chief  of  the  Bow  Street  detectives 
had  given  him. 

"  That  is  all  right,"  Dick  said,  when  he  concluded. 
"  It  is  a  rum  business,  but  certainly  I  will  do  what  you 
ask  me;  and,  what  is  more,  I  will  go  over  with  you  to 
Amsterdam,  and  see  the  thing  through.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing business,  if  it  is  a  queer  one." 

"  You  know  Philip  Cotter?  " 

"  Of  course,  Mark;  why,  I  have  met  him  with  you 
several  times." 

"  I  will  give  you  a  note  to  ask  him  to  allow  you  to 
open  the  case,  and  to  take  from  it  the  bracelet;  I  don't 
know  whether  it  is  a  regular  gold-mounted  bracelet,  or 
simply  some  diamonds  that  have  been  fastened  together 
as  a  necklace;  however,  I  suppose  you  are  sure  to  recog- 
nize them;  they  are  altogether  exceptional  stones,  and 
will  certainly  be  done  up  in  a  packet  by  themselves, 
Avhatever  the  others  may  be.  Say  that  you  will  call  in 
and  take  them  away  some  other  time,  of  which  I  will  give 
him  notice  by  letter.  I  will  write  the  note  now,  and  if 
you  can  spare  time  to  go  there  to-day,  all  the  better,  for 
I  shall  be  glad  to  get  the  business  over;  then  I  will  come 
again  to-morrow  morning,  and  we  will  arrange  the  details 
of  the  plan.     I  will  look  in  the  shipping  list,  and  see 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  269 

what  vessels  are  sailing  for  Amsterdam.  When  we  have 
fixed  on  one,  it  will  be  best  for  you  to  take  our  passages 
under  any  names  you  like,  so  that  they  are  not  our  own. 
The  detectives  will  take  their  passages  separately,  and  so 
will  Gibbons  and  whoever  else  goes  with  us." 

"  I  will  go  at  once,  Mark." 

"  Don't  go  straight  there,  Dick;  if  these  fellows  are 
dogging  my  footsteps  everywhere,  and  saw  me  coming 
here,  they  might  take  it  into  their  heads  to  follow  you." 

"  Oh,  they  can  never  be  doing  all  that  sort  of  thing; 
that's  too  much  to  believe.  However,  to  please  you,  I  will 
go  into  my  club  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Shall  I  come 
round  to  your  rooms  this  evening,  or  will  you  come  here  ?  " 

"  I  think  I  will  put  off  our  meeting  altogether  until 
to-morrow  morning.  I  have  an  engagement  this  evening 
that  I  cannot  very  well  get  out  of." 

"  All  right,  Mark,  just  as  you  please.  What  time  will 
you  come  round  in  the  morning?  " 

"  About  the  time  you  have  finished  breakfast.  I  will 
go  now,  and  have  a  look  at  the  shipping  list." 

They  parted  at  the  door,  and  Mark  went  to  the  coffee- 
house where  shipping  matters  were  specially  attended  to, 
and  where  master  mariners  might  often  be  met,  conversing 
together,  or  with  shipowners  or  merchants.  On  going 
through  the  list,  he  found  that  the  fast-sailing  brig, 
Essex,  of  204  tons,  and  mounting  eight  guns,  would  sail 
for  Amsterdam  in  three  days'  time,  and  would  take  in 
goods  for  that  place,  and,  should  sufficient  freight  be 
obtained,  for  any  other  Dutch  port.  It  was  also 
announced  that  she  had  good  accommodation  for  passen- 
gers. Information  as  to  cargo  could  be  obtained  from 
her  owners,  on  Tower  Hill,  or  from  the  captain  on  board, 
between  the  hours  of  ten  and  twelve.  Then,  in  small 
type,  it  was  stated  that  the  Essex  was  at  present  lying  in 
the  outside  tier  nearly  opposite  Anderson's  wharf. 

Mark  made  a  note  of  all  these  particulars  in  his  pocket- 
book,  and  then  went  to  Ingleston's  public-house. 

"  Morning,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  the  man  said;  "  haven't 
seen  yer  for  the  last  month  or  so." 

"  No;  I  have  been  out  of  town.  Do  you  expect  Gibbons 
in  here  this  morning?  " 


270  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"  It  is  about  his  time,  sir,  when  he  has  nothing  in 
particular  to  see  about.  Like  a  turn  with  the  mauleys 
this  morning?  " 

"  Not  this  morning,  Ingieston.  I  have  got  some  en- 
gagements for  the  next  day  or  two  where  I  could  not 
very  well  show  myself  with  a  black  eye  or  a  swelled  nose; 
you  have  given  me  a  good  many  of  both/' 

"  Well,  Mr.  Thorndyke,  when  one  stands  up  against  a 
man  who  is  as  strong  as  one's  self,  and  a  mighty  quick 
and  hard  hitter,  you  have  got  to  hit  sharp  and  quick 
too.  You  know  my  opinion,  that  there  aint  half  a  dozen 
men  in  the  country  could  lick  you  if  you  had  a  proper 
training." 

"  I  suppose  you  couldn't  get  away  for  a  week,  or  maybe 
two?  "  he  said. 

"  Lor'  bless  you,  no,  sir.  Who  would  there  be  to  keep 
order  here  at  night?  When  I  first  came  here  I  had  not 
given  up  the  ring,  and  I  fought  once  or  twice  afterwards. 
But,  Lor'  bless  you,  I  soon  found  that  I  had  got  either 
to  give  up  the  pub  or  the  ring,  and  as  I  was  doing  a 
tidy  business  here,  I  thought  it  best  to  retire;  since  then 
business  has  grown.  You  see,  boxing  is  more  fashionable 
than  it  used  to  be,  and  there  are  very  few  nights  when 
one  don't  have  a  dozen  Corinthians  in  here — sometimes 
there  are  twice  as  many — either  to  see  some  of  the  new 
hands  put  on  the  mauleys,  and  judge  for  themselves  how 
they  are  going  to  turn  out,  or  maybe  to  arrange  for  a 
bout  between  some  novice  they  fancy  and  one  of  the  west 
countrymen.  No,  sir,  I  could  not  do  it  anyhow;  I  should 
not  like  to  be  away  even  for  one  night,  though  I  know 
Gibbons  would  look  after  things  for  me;  as  fur  being 
away  for  a  week,  I  could  not  do  it  for  any  money.  No, 
sir,  my  fight  with  Jackson  last  year  was  the  last  time  I 
shall  ever  go  into  the  ring.  I  was  a  fool  to  go  in  for 
that,  but  I  got  taunted  into  it.  I  never  thought  that 
I  should  lick  him,  though,  as  you  know,  sir,  I  have  licked 
a  good  many  good  men  in  my  time,  but  Jackson  is  an 
out-and-out  man,  and  he  has  got  a  lot  more  science  than 
I  ever  had;  my  only  chance  was  that  I  could  knock  him 
out  of  time  or  wear  him  down;  but  he  was  too  quick  on 
his  pins  for  me  to  do  the  former.     Ah,  Gibbons,  here  is 


COLONEL   THOENLYKE'S  SECRET.  271 

Mr.  Thorndyke.  He  wants  to  see  you;  you  had  best  go 
into  my  room  behind  the  bar." 

"Want  to  get  hold  of  a  frosh  hand,  Mr.  Thorndyke?" 
Gibbons  asked  when  they  had  sat  down  by  the  fire. 

"  No,  Gibbons,  it  is  another  business  altogether.  Have 
you  got  anything  particular  to  keep  you  in  town  for  the 
next  fortnight?  It  may  not  be  over  a  week,  but  it  may 
be  over  a  fortnight." 

"  No,  sir,"  the  man  said,  after  taking  three  or  four 
draws  at  his  long  pipe.  "  No,  sir;  they  won't  want  the 
ropes  and  stakes  for  another  three  weeks,  so  I  am  your 
man  if  you  want  me.     What  is  it  for,  sir?  " 

"  Well,  it  is  rather  a  curious  affair,  Gibbons.  I  have 
to  take  a  very  valuable  bracelet  over  to  Amsterdam,  to 
sell  there,  and  I  have  very  strong  reasons  for  believing 
that  if  some  fellows  get  an  inkling  of  it  they  will  try  to 
put  me  out  of  the  way,  and  get  hold  of  the  diamonds.  I 
want  a  couple  of  good  men  to  go  with  me." 

"  Well,  sir,  I  should  say  you  and  me  could  lick 
a  dozen  ordinary  chaps,  without  thinking  anything  of 
it." 

"  I  dare  say  we  could,  Gibbons,  in  a  stand-up  fight 
without  weapons,  but  I  fancy  these  fellows  will  not  try 
that.  They  are  foreigners,  and  the  first  thing  they  would 
try  would  be  to  put  a  dagger  between  my  shoulders  as 
I  walked  up  and  down  on  deck  at  night,  or,  more  likely 
still,  creep  into  my  cabin  and  stab  me  while  I  was  asleep. 
If  the  voyage  were  only  to  last  one  night  I  might  sit 
up,  pistol  in  hand,  but  if  the  wind  is  foul  we  might  be  a 
week.  We  are  a  pretty  strong  party.  Mr.  Chetwynd — 
you  know  him — is  going  with  me;  there  will  also  be  two 
runners  from  Bow  Street,  and  I  want  you  to  take  another 
good  man  with  you.  Of  course,  on  board  we  shall 
separate.  The  Bow  Street  men  will  watch  the  passengers, 
and  you  and  your  mate  will  smoke  your  pipes  and  keep 
yourselves  ready  to  join  in  if  you  see  there  is  going  to  be  a 
row.  But  I  rather  think  that  the  passage  will  be  a  quiet 
one.  At  Amsterdam,  until  I  have  got  rid  of  the  diamonds 
I  certainly  should  not  care  about  going  out  into  the  street 
after  nightfall  without  having  you  close  behind  me." 

"  All  right,  sir.     I  should  say  Tom  Tring  would  be  as 


272  COLONEL   THORNLYKE'S  SECRET. 

good  a  man  as  one  could  get  at  the  job.  What  is  the 
money  to  be,  Mr.  Thorndyke?  " 

"  Well,  what  do  you  think  yourself,  Gibbons?  " 

"  I  take  it  you  pay  all  expenses,  sir?  " 

"  Yes,  everything." 

"  Would  five-and- twenty  guineas  a  head  be  too  much?  " 

"  No;  I  will  do  better  than  that.  I  will  give  you  five- 
and-twenty  guineas  each  when  we  get  to  Amsterdam,  and 
I  will  give  you  another  twenty-five  each  if  I  come  back 
here  safe  and  sound." 

"  Well,  I  call  that  handsome.  One  could  not  want 
more,  and  you  can  rely  on  it  that  Tring  will  jump  at  the 
offer.  He  has  not  been  able  to  get  a  fight  on  lately,  and 
he  is  rather  in  low  water/' 

"  Well,  you  will  both  get  up  as  quiet  traders.  I  don't 
know  what  other  passengers  there  may  be,  but  I  don't 
want  them  to  know  that  you  belong  to  the  fancy." 

"  I  twig,  sir.     We  will  get  up  quiet  like." 

"  Then  I  want  you  to-morrow  morning,  Gibbons,  to 
go  down  to  Holmes  &  Moore,  No.  67  Tower  Street,  and 
take  two  first-class  tickets  to  Amsterdam  on  board  the 
Essex,  which  sails  on  Saturday.  I  don't  know  what  the 
passage-money  will  be,  but  this  is  sure  to  be  enough;  and 
we  can  settle  accounts  afterwards.  You  will  find  out 
what  time  of  day  she  will  start." 

"  All  right,  governor.  I  suppose  you  will  be  here  again 
before  that?" 

"  No,  I  don't  suppose  I  shall,  unless  there  is  some 
change  in  the  arrangements.  If  for  any  reasons  Tring 
cannot  go  with  you,  you  will  get  somebody  else  instead. 
You  are  sure  that  you  quite  understand  your  instructions  ? 
Here  is  the  name  and  address  of  the  people  in  Tower 
Street." 

"  All  right,  sir.  You  may  make  sure  that  when  you 
go  down  to  the  ship  you  will  see  the  two  of  us  on  board." 

It  needed  but  a  few  minutes  at  Bow  Street  to  inform 
the  chief  of  the  arrangements  that  had  been  made. 

"  I  have  told  off  Chester  and  Malcolm;  one  of  them 
shall  go  down  and  take  their  tickets.  Of  course,  they  will 
take  their  passages  in  the  fore  cabin,  as  the  danger,  if 
there  is  danger,  may  come  from  there,  and  you  will  have 


COLONEL   TRORND  TKE'S  SECRET.  273 

your  other  two  men  with  you  aft.  I  fancy  myself  that 
there  is  hardly  any  chance  of,  your  being  in  any  way 
troubled  while  on  board.  It  will  be  considered  that  there 
will  be  a  vastly  greater  chance  of  carrying  out  any  plan 
they  may  have  formed  at  Am&terdam  than  there  would 
be  on  board  a  ship;  you  see,  if>  there  were  any  struggle 
whatever  on  board  there  would  be  no  escape  for  them. 

"  For  myself,  of  course  I  cannot  give  any  opinion  worth 
having  in  a  matter  so  different  from  anything  we  have  to 
do  with  here,  and  I  should  have  unhesitatingly  scoffed  at 
the  idea  of  anyone  watching  the  movements  of  people 
for  a  long  number  of  years  in  order  to  obtain  the  posses- 
sion of  jewels,  however  valuable.  However,  your  uncle 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  Hindoos,  and  was 
not  a  man  to  be  lightly  alarmed;  you  yourself,  after  your 
year  with  us,  should  not  be  deceived  in  such  a  matter  as 
being  yourself  followed;  under  these  circumstances  you 
are  quite  right  to  take  every  precaution,  and  as  you  pay 
well  for  the  services  of  our  two  men,  even  if  I  had  no 
belief  whatever  in  the  existence  of  danger  to  you,  I  should 
not  feel  justified  in  refusing  to  let  you  have  them." 

Having  arranged  these  mat  ,ers,  Mark  spent  the  rest  of 
his  time  that  day  and  the  next  at  Islington. 

"  I  am  going  across  to  Amsterdam  on  Saturday  with  a 
diamond  bracelet  to  sell  there." 

Millicent  looked  at  him  in  reproachful  surprise. 

"  Why,  surely,  Mark,  there  can  be  no  hurry  about  that. 
I  think  you  might  have  stayed  a  little  longer  before 
running  away." 

"  I  should  do  so,  you  may  be  quite  sure,  Millicent,  if 
I  consulted  my  own  inclinations,  but  I  am  bearing  out 
your  father's  wishes.  This  bracelet  is  the  most  valuable 
of  all  the  things  he  had,  and  I  believe  that  it  has  some 
sort  of  history  attached  to  it.  He  told  my  father  that  he 
had  sent  all  the  gems  home  principally  to  get  these 
diamonds  out  of  his  possession;  he  said  that  as  soon  as 
my  father  got'  hold  of  the  things,  he  was  to  take  the 
diamonds  straight  over  to  Amsterdam  and  sell  them  there, 
for  he  considered  that  they!  were  much  too  valuable  to  be 
kept  in  the  house,  and  that  it  was  possible  that  some  of 
the  Hindoos  might  endeavor  to  get  possession  of  them. 


274  COLONEL  THORNDYKWS  SECRET. 

At  the  time  he  spoke  he  believed  that  my  father  would, 
at  his  death,  go  to  the  bank  and  get  the  jewels,  as  of 
course  he  would  have  done  if  he  had  known  where  to  find 
them.  My  father  promised  him  that  they  should  be  taken 
to  Amsterdam  at  once;  and  although  so  many  years  have 
passed  since  his  death,  I  think  I  am  bound  to  carry  out 
that  promise." 

"  I  have  never  been  able  to  understand,  Mark,  how  it 
was  that  my  father,  when  he  gave  all  these  instructions 
about  me  and  these  jewels  and  so  on,  did  not  at  the  same 
time  tell  uncle  where  to  find  them." 

"  It  was  a  fancy  of  his;  he  was  in  very  bad  health,  and 
he  thought  so  much  over  these  diamonds  that  it  had  be- 
come almost  a  sort  of  mania  with  him  that  not  only  was 
there  danger  in  their  possession,  but  that  he  was  watched 
night  and  day  wherever  he  went.  He  thought,  even,  if  he 
whispered  where  the  hiding-place  was  to  be  discovered  it 
might  be  heard;  therefore  he  deferred  telling  it  until  too 
late.  Of  course  all  this  was  but  a  fancy  on  his  part, 
although  it  is  probable  enough  that  the  possession  of  the 
diamonds  was  a  source  of  danger  in  India,  and  might  have 
been  a  source  of  danger  here  had  any  thieves  known  that 
such  valuable  gems  were  kept  in  a  private  house  or  carried 
about.  At  any  rate,  I  shall  be  glad  to  be  free  of  the 
responsibility;  and  although,  naturally,  I  don't  like  leaving 
you  at  the  present  time,  I  think  it  best  to  carry  out  your 
father's  instructions"  at  once,  and  to  get  them  off  my  mind 
altogether.  Dick  Chetwynd  is  going  with  me,  so  it  will 
be  a  pleasant  little^  trip." 

"  Well,  I  am  glad  he  is  going  with  you,  Mark;  for 
although  I  know  well  enough  that  they  could  never  be 
watching  for  those  diamonds  to  turn  up  all  these  years, 
I  feel  sure  I  should  fidget  and  worry  if  you  were  alone. 
You  are  not  going  to  take  the  others  with  you?  " 

"  No, -only  this  particular  bracelet.  None  of  the  others 
are  exceptionally  valuable,  so  far  as  I  know.  At  any  rate, 
your  father  did  not  specially  allude  to  them.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  there  are  some  really  valuable  jewels  among 
them,  for  my  uncle  prided  himself  on  being  a  judge  of 
precious  stones,  and  as  he  invested  a  large  amount  of 
money  in  them,  they  are,  no  doubt,  worth  a  great  deal. 


COLONEL   THORND  TKE'S  SECRET.  275 

Still,  I  don't  suppose  there  will  be  any  difficulty  in  selling 
them  here,  and,  at  any  rate,  I  don't  want  to  be  delayed  at 
Amsterdam  by  having  to  sell  perhaps  fifty  or  a  hundred 
pieces  of  jewelry;  any  time  will  do  for  that.  I  fancy 
that  I  ought  to  be  able  to  dispose  of  the  bracelet  in  three 
or  four  days  at  the  outside.  I  have  got  from  Bow  Street 
a  list  of  all  the  principal  diamond  merchants  in  Amster- 
dam. That  is  a  matter  of  great  interest  to  the  force,  as 
almost  all  precious  stones  stolen  in  this  country  are  sent 
across  there,  and  if  there  is  any  special  jewel  robbery  we 
send  over  a  list  of  all  the  articles  taken  to  the  merchants 
there.  As  a  rule,  that  woruld  not  prevent  their  dealing  in 
them,  but  there  are  some  who  will  not  touch  things  that 
have  been  dishonestly  come  by,  and  we  occasionally  get 
hints  that  enable  us  to  lay  hands  upon  thieves  over  there." 

"  I  hate  to  hear  you  say  '  the  force/  Mark,  just  as  if 
you  were  still  a  detective;  it  is  bad  enough  that  you 
should  have  belonged  to  it,  even  for  the  purpose  you  did; 
but  you  have  done  with  it  now." 

"  Yes;  but,  you  see,  it  is  rather  difficult  to  get  out  of 
the  habit  when  one  has  been  for  over  a  year  constantly 
at  work  at  a  thing.  This  will  be  my  last  absence  on 
business,  Millicent;  henceforward  I  shall  be  able  to  be 
always  with  you." 

"  Well,  now,  that  I  know  what  you  have  been  doing 
all  this  time,  Mark,  I  must  admit  that  you  have  been 
very  good  to  have  been  with!  us  as  much  as  you  have. 
I  often  used  to  wonder  how  you  passed  your  time.  Of 
course  I  knew  that  you  were,  trying  to  find  that  man 
out,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  me  that  you  could  be  always 
at  that,  and  I  never  dreamt  that  you  had  become  a 
regular  detective.  I  am  very  glad  I  did  not  know  it  till 
a  short  time  before  you  gave  it  up.  In  the  first  place, 
I  should  have  been  horrified,  and,  in  the  second  place, 
I  should  have  been  constantly  uneasy  about  you.  Plow- 
ever,  as  this  is  to  be  the  last  time,  I  will  let  you  go  with- 
out grumbling." 

"  By  the  way,  Millicent,  what  do  you  wish  me  to  say 
about  our  engagement?  I  don't  see  that  there  is  the 
slightest  occasion  for  us  to  keep  up  the  farce  of  your 
being  Miss  Conyers  any  longer.     You  cannot  be  married 


276  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

under  a  false  name,  you  know,  and  now  that  you  have 
escaped  what  your  father  was  so  afraid  of,  and  are  going 
to  he  married  for  love  and  not  for  money,  I  don't  see 
why  there  should  be  any  more  mystery  about  it." 

"  But  how  would  you  account  for  my  having  been  called 
Conyers  all  this  time?  " 

"  I  should  simply  tell  the  truth;  that  your  father, 
having  a  great  fear  that  you  might  be  married  for 
money,  left  the  estate  to  my  father,  to  be  held  by  him 
until  you  came  of  age,  and  that  it  was  at  his  particular 
request  that  you  were  brought  up  simply  as  his  ward, 
and  dropped  the  family  name  and  passed  by  your  two 
Christian  names.  I  should  say  that  we  have  all  been 
aware  for  a  long  time  of  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  I 
should  also  say  that  your  father  had  left  a  very  large 
fortune  in  addition  to  the  estate  between  us,  and  had 
expressed  a  hope  that  we  should,  when  the  time  came, 
marry  each  other." 

"  Then  people  will  think  that  we  have  only  married  to 
keep  the  fortune  together,  Mark." 

"  Well,  my  dear,  I  don't  suppose  there  are  a  great  many 
people  who  will  be  interested  in  the  matter,  and  those 
who  get  to  know  you  will  see  at  once  that  as  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  there  was  no  great  difficulty  in  falling  in 
with  your  father's  ideas,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  they 
may  consider  that  you  made  a  noble  sacrifice  of  yourself 
in  agreeing  to  the  plan." 

"  Nonsense,  sir.  I  am  not  going  to  flatter  you,  as  no 
doubt  you  expect;  but,  at  any  rate,  I  am  perfectly  content 
with  my  share  of  the  bargain." 

"  Well,  there  is  one  thing,  Millicent;  all  who  knew  us 
down  at  Eeigate  will  say  that  it  is  a  very  sensible  ar- 
rangement, and  will  be  glad  to  know  that  I  shall  retain 
the  estate  they  have  hitherto  considered  to  be  mine. 
Well,  then,  you  agree  to  my  mentioning  to  my  intimate 
friends  that  you  are  my  cousin,  and  that  we  are 
engaged  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  it  is  the  best  thing,  Mark,  and,  as 
you  say,  I  must  marry  under  my  proper  name,  and  it  is 
just  as  well  to  get  the  talk  over  down  at  Eeigate  now, 
as  for  it  all  to  come  as  a  wonder  when  we  are  married." 


COLONEL   THORNBYKE'8  SECRET.  277 

"  When  is  that  going  to  be,  Millicent?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know;  of  course  it  will  be  a  long  time 
before  we  even  think  of  that." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  I  am  thinking  of  it  now,  and  I 
can  see  no  reason  whatever  why  it  should  be  delayed. 
We  know  each  other  well  enough,  I  should  think,  and 
there  is  no  probability  of  our  changing  our  minds  on 
discovering  all  sorts  of  faults,  that  we  never  dreamt,  in 
each  other.  I  may  be  away  for  a  fortnight,  and  I  would 
suggest  that  you  had  better  make  your  preparations  at 
once,  so  that  we  can  be  married  a  fortnight  after  I  come 
back." 

"You  say  that  there  is  no  fear  of  our  discovering 
faults  in  each  other.  I  can  assure  you  that  I  have  just 
discovered  a  very  serious  fault,  namely,  that  you  are 
altogether  too  masterful,  too  bent  upon  having  your  own 
way.  I  know  you  always  were  so  when  you  were  a  boy, 
but  I  hoped  you  had  grown  out  of  it;  now  I  see  that  I 
was  altogether  mistaken.  Seriously,  Mark,  your  pro- 
posal is  absurd." 

"Where  does  the  absurdity  come  in,  Millicent?" 

"  Well,  everywhere,"  she  said  gravely. 

"  Which  in  the  present  case  means  nowhere,"  he  said. 
"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me,  Millicent,  that  in  this  town 
there  are  not  a  hundred  dressmakers,  each  of  whom  could 
turn  you  out  a  wedding-dress  and  as  many  other  garments 
as  you  can  possibly  require  in  the  course  of  a  month,  or 
even  if  that  effort  were  too  stupendous,  that  you  could 
not  divide  the  work  among  a  dozen  of  them?  " 

"  Well,  I  don't  say  that  could  not  be  done,"  Millicent 
admitted  reluctantly. 

"Well,  what  other  objection  is  there?" 

"  Well,  you  see,  one  does  not  like  to  be  bustled  in  such 
a  matter  as  this,  Mark.  One  likes  to  think  it  all  over 
and  to  realize  it  to  one's  self." 

"  Well,  dear,  you  will  have  a  fortnight  while  T  am 
away  to  think  and  to  realize  as  much  as  you  like.  I  can 
see  no  advantage  myself  in  waiting  a  single  day  longer 
than  there  is  a  necessity  for;  T  have  been  for  the  last 
year  coming  here  merely  as  a  visitor,  and  I  want  to  take 
possession  of  you  and  have  you  all  to  myself.     I  suppose 


278  COLONEL   THORND  YKE'S  SECRET. 

Mrs.  Cunningham  will  be  coming  in  presently,  and  I  will 
put  the  matter  to  her.  If  she  says  you  cannot  be  ready 
in  a  month  I  must  give  you  another  week,  but  I  don't 
think  that  she  will  say  so.     By  the  way,  how  about  her?  " 

"  I  was  thinking  of  that  last  night,  Mark.  It  would  be 
very  lonely  for  her  to  live  by  herself  now,  and  you  see  she 
has  always  been  as  a  mother  to  me." 

"  Quite  so,  dear;  and  I  am  sure  that  I  should  have  no 
objection  to  her  coming  back  to  Crowswood,  and  living 
there  as  a  friend,  and  helping  you  in  the  housekeeping." 

"  Thank  you  very  much,  Mark;  I  should  like  that  in 
every  way.  You  see,  I  know  nothing  whatever  about 
housekeeping;  and  besides,  when  you  are  out,  it  would  be 
a  great  thing  to  have  her  with  me,  for  it  would  be  very 
lonely  by  myself  in  that  big  house." 

"  Well,  we  will  have  her  there,  by  all  means,  dear,  if 
she  likes  to  come;  you  had  better  talk  it  over  with  her. 
Ah!  here  she  is.  We  were  just  talking  over  the  time  it 
will  take  Millicent  to  get  ready,"  he  said,  "  and  I  shall  be 
glad  of  your  opinion.  I  have  been  telling  her  that  I  am 
going  away  for  a  fortnight,  and  have  proposed  that  the 
marriage  should  come  off  a  fortnight  later.  I  cannot  see 
any  use  in  delay,  and  she  does  not  either;  at  least,  I 
suppose  not,  for  the  only  objection  she  has  advanced  is 
that  there  will  be  but  a  short  time  in  which  to  get  her 
things  ready.  That  strikes  me  as  being  all  nonsense.  I 
could  get  things  ready  for  ten  weddings  in  that  time. 
What  do  you  think?" 

"I  see  no  reason  for  delay,"  Mrs.  Cunningham  said; 
"  and  assuredly  a  month  ought  to  be  sufficient  to  get 
everything  made." 

"  Thank  vou,  Mrs.  Cunningham;  then  we  can  consider 
that  settled,"  Millicent!  " 

"  I  call  this  tyranny,  Mrs.  Cunningham,"  Millicent  pro- 
tested. "  He  says  he  proposes  that  we  shall  be  married  in 
a  month;  it  is  not  a  proposal  at  all,  it  is  an  order.  If  he 
had  wanted  me  in  such  a  hurry  he  might  have  said  so  a 
year  ago,  and  now  that  he  has  made  up  his  mind  at  last, 
he  wants  everything  done  in  a  hurry." 

"  It  is  the  nature  of  men,  my  dear;  they  are  all  alike 
in  that  respect.     I  think  you  had  better  make  up  your 


COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET.  279 

mind  to  it,  especially  as  I  have  no  doubt  in  this  case  the 
order  is  not  a  very  unpleasant  one." 

"  You  are  too  bad,  Mrs.  Cunningham/'  Millicent  said. 
"  I  made  sure  that  I  should  find  you  on  my  side,  and  it 
seems  you  have  gone  over  altogether  to  the  enemy." 

"  Where  are  you  going  to  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Cunningham 
of  Mark. 

"  I  am  going  across  to  Amsterdam  to  sell  that  bracelet. 
My  uncle  expressed  a  particular  wish  to  my  father  that  he 
should  do  so  immediately  it  came  into  his  possession. 
Dick  Chetwynd  is  going  over  with  me,  and  if  the  weather 
is  fair  it  will  be  a  pleasant  trip." 

"  Where  are  you  thinking  of  going  after  the  mar- 
riage ?  " 

"  We  have  not  talked  it  over  yet.  My  own  idea  is  that, 
as  neither  of  us  has  been  abroad,  we  might  as  well  take 
this  opportunity  for  seeing  something  of  the  Continent. 
Of  course  we  cannot  go  to  France,  things  are  in  too  dis- 
turbed a  state  there;  but  we  might  go  to  Brussels,  and 
then  into  Germany,  and  perhaps  as  far  as  Vienna,  and 
then  down  into  Italy;  but  of  course,  if  Millicent  prefers 
it,  we  will  simply  take  a  tour  through  England  and 
Scotland." 

"  Oh,  I  am  glad  that  I  am  to  have  some  voice  in  the 
matter,"  Millicent  said.  "  However,  I  should  like  the 
tour  you  propose  very  much,  Mark.  I  have  often 
thought  that  I  should  like  to  see  Italy  above  all  places." 

"  Well,  then,  we  will  consider  that  settled.  And  now, 
what  are  you  going  to  do  for  to-day  ?  " 


CHAPTEE    XIX. 

The  Essex  was  to  sail  at  eleven  o'clock.  Half  an  hour 
before  that  time  Mark's  hackney  coach  drew  up  at  the 
wharf.  Ten  minutes  later  Dick  Chetwynd,  who  had, 
like  Mark,  driven  by  a  circuitous  route,  and  had  made 
several  stoppages,  joined  him,  and  as  they  shook  hands 
slipped  a  parcel  into  his  hand,  and  this  Mark  at  once 
pocketed,  and  buttoned  his  coat  up  tightly;  then  hailing 
a  boat,  they  went  on  board  together;  they  had  sent  their 
luggage  on  the  previous  evening.  On  getting  on  board 
Mark  saw  the  two  prizefighters  walking  up  and  down  the 
deck  aft.  They  were  quietly  dressed,  and  save  for  their 
size  would  have  attracted  no  attention,  and  would  have 
been  taken  for  two  countrymen  on  their  way  to  Holland 
on  business. 

The  two  detectives  were  seated  forward,  their  appear- 
ance being  that  of  two  quiet  business  men,  commercial 
travelers  or  small  traders.  The  two  friends  first  went 
below,  and  saw  to  the  cabin  which  they  were  to  share,  and 
found  their  luggage  was  all  there.  Then  they  returned 
on  deck.  Four  or  five  other  passengers  were  standing 
watching  the  last  bales  of  goods  coming  on  board.  The 
tide  was  just  on  the  turn,  and  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later 
the  warps  were  thrown  off,  and  some  of  the  sails  hoisted, 
and  the  Essex  began  to  move  through  the  water. 

"Look  there,  Dick!"  Mark  exclaimed.  "Do  you  see 
that  boat  lying  on  its  oars  in  the  middle  of  the  stream? 
That  man  sitting  in  the  stern  is  a  foreigner,  either  from 
Southern  Europe  or  irom  India." 

"  He  is  certainly  a  dark  man,  Mark.  Still,  that  may  be 
only  a  coincidence." 

"  It  is  rather  a  curious  one,"  Mark  said.  "  We  are  too 
far  off  to  see  his  features,  but  he  is  apparently  watching 
us  off.  There,  the  oars  are  dipping  into  the  water,  now 
he  sees  that  we  are  fairly  under  way." 

380 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  281 

"  Well,  Mark,  I  shall  begin  to  think  that  you  are  right. 
I  am  bound  to  say  that  hitherto  I  thought  that  it  was 
ridiculous  to  suppose  that  you  could  have  been  watched 
as  you  thought,  and  that  you  had  got  these  diamonds  on 
3rour  brain  till  you  had  really  become  fanciful.  However, 
it  certainly  looks  as  if  you  were  right;  but  even  if  you 
were,  how  on  earth  could  they  have  found  out  that  we 
were  going  by  this  ship?  " 

"  That  is  more  than  I  can  tell;  if  they  have  been 
watching  me  they  must  have  known  that  I  was  intimate 
with  you;  they  have  seen  me  come  out  of  Cotter's  Bank, 
md  afterwards  enter  your  lodgings;  they  would  feel  sure 
that  I  had  heard  that  there  would  be  danger  connected 
vith  the  diamonds,  and  might  suppose  that  I  should  get 
f.ome  friend  to  take  them  from  the  bank,  and  may  have 
followed  your  movements  as  well  as  mine.  In  that  case 
they  would  have  found  out  that  you  also  went  to  Cotter's 
Bank;  may  have  followed  you  to  Tower  Street,  and  found 
out  that  you  had  taken  a  passage  for  two  to  Amsterdam. 
They  may  again  have  seen  you  go  to  the  bank  this 
morning  and  have  guessed  that  you  had  the  diamonds 
about  you,  and  then  seeing  us  together  on  the  wharf 
would  feel  pretty  certain  that  it  was  so.  One  of  them 
may  have  hired  that  boat  and  watched  the  Essex  to  see 
that  neither  of  us  went  on  shore  again." 

"  Now  they  see  that  we  are  off  they  will  know  that 
their  game  is  up,"  Chetwynd  said. 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that,  Dick;  there  are  craft  going 
every  day  to  Antwerp  and  Flushing,  and  for  anything  we 
know  some  of  them  may  be  on  board  a  craft  already 
dropping  down  like  ourselves  by  this  tide.  But  even  if 
we  had  twelve  hours'  start,  by  landing,  say  at  Flushing, 
they  would  have  time  to  cross  by  land  to  Amsterdam  and 
get  there  before  us." 

"Yes,  I  suppose  they  would;  anyhow,  it  is  pretty  cer- 
tain that  we  shall  not  be  troubled  on  the  voyage." 

"  Yes,  I  never  thought  there  was  much  danger  of  that, 
because  even  if  they  were  on  board  they  would  see  that 
you  and  I,  being  always  together,  could  not  be  got  rid  of 
without  an  alarm  being  given." 

Not  until  they  were  passing  Greenwich  did  either  of 


282  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SEclET- 

the  detectives  come  near  Mark,  then  as  hi  a^  -V1C^ 
were  standing  by  the  bulwarks,  looking  at  the  ^ospitaij 
Chester  strolled  across  the  deck  and,  pointing  to  .  e 
building  as  if  asking  him  some  question  aboir.  S* 
said: 

"  There  is  a  colored  man  forward,  dressed  as  a 
sailor." 

"  Is  that  so?  "  Mark  said.  "  I  see  no  one  aft  here  who 
looks  suspicious,  and  I  don't  think  they  will  try  anything 
till  we  get  to  Amsterdam.  There  was  a  colored  man  in 
a  boat  watching  us  as  we  set  sail." 

"  I  saw  him,  sir.  Can  he  get  to  Amsterdam  before 
us?" 

"  Yes,  I  have  no  doubt  he  can;  if  he  lands  at  Flushing 
or  Antwerp,  and  takes  a  post-chaise  or  a  diligence,  I 
should  say  he  could  get  there  twenty-four  hours  before 
us.  Certainly  he  could  do  so  if  he  landed  at  The  Hague, 
as  we  have  to  go  a  long  way  round  to  get  into  the  Zuyder 
Zee.  That  is  where  the  real  danger  will  be;  still  you  had 
better  keep  a  sharp  lookout  on  the  man  forward." 

No  more  was  said.  Mark  was  not  long  in  getting  into 
conversation  with  the  other  passengers  aft,  and  later  on 
strolled  forward  with  Dick,  asking  the  sailors  some 
questions  as  to  what  sort  of  passage  they  were  likely  to 
have,  and  how  the  wind  suited.  The  men  agreed  that 
unless  the  wind  shifted  they  would  not  be  likely  to  make 
a  quick  passage. 

"  The  wind  is  northeasterly,"  one  of  them  said.  "  We 
can  only  just  lay  our  course  now,  and  it  will  be  dead 
against  us  in  some  of  the  reaches.  Still,  I  think  we  shall 
manage  to  make  down  to  sea  with  only  a  tack  or  two, 
but  when  we  are  once  fairly  out  of  the  river  it  will  be  a 
long  leg  and  a  short  one,  and  going  up  round  the  Texel 
it  will  be  dead  against  us.  Except  that  it  would  be  a 
bit  worse  if  it  had  a  little  more  east  in  it,  it  is  about  as 
foul  a  wind  as  we  could  have,  and  I  don't  see  any  sign  of 
a  change,  worse  luck." 

Presently,  moving  about  among  them,  he  got  next  to 
Gibbons. 

"  I  don't  think  we  shall  have  any  trouble  on  board,"  he 
said;  "  if  there  is  any,  it  will  be  after  we  have  landed. 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  283 

But  you  can  keep  an  eye  on  that  foreign  sailor  standing 
alone  there  up  in  the  bows." 

"  All  right,  sir;  if  you  like,  I  can  manage  to  get  into 
a  quarrel  with  him,  and  can  warrant  that  he  won't  get 
out  of  his  berth  before  it  is  time  to  go  ashore." 

"  No,  I  would  leave  him  alone,  Gibbons;  as  long  as  he 
is  forward  he  can  do  no  harm;  but  if  you  see  him  working 
his  way  aft,  after  it  gets  dark,  it  will  do  him  no  harm  if 
you  manage  to  stumble  against  him  and  give  him  a  clout 
on  the  head." 

"  All  right,  sir;  if  I  hit  him  once  he  won't  want 
another.  The  fellow  seems  quiet  enough,  and  as  far  as 
strength  goes  he  don't  look  stronger  than  a  girl." 

After  chatting  for  some  time  longer  Mark  and  Dick 
Chetwynd  went  aft  again.  The  Essex  did  not  put  into 
any  intermediate  port,  and  it  was  only  on  the  sixth  day 
after  sailing  that  she  approached  Amsterdam.  The  voy- 
age had  passed  off  without  any  incident  except  that  at 
nine  o'clock  one  evening  there  had  been  a  slight  noise  on 
deck  and  the  sound  of  a  fall.  The  friends  went  up  at 
once.  Several  of  the  sailors  had  run  aft,  and  Gibbons 
was  explaining  matters  to  them. 

"  I  was  walking  up  and  down  the  deck,"  he  said,  "  when 
I  saw  this  chap  staring  down  through  the  skylight,  and 
I  said  to  him,  '  I  don't  call  it  good  manners  to  be  prying- 
down  into  your  betters'  cabin.'  He  did  not  answer  or 
move,  so  I  gave  him  a  push,  when  he  turned  upon  me  like 
a  wild  cat,  and  drew  his  knife  from  his  girdle.  There  it 
is,  on  the  other  side  of  the  deck.  As  I  did  not  want 
daylight  put  into  me,  I  just  knocked  him  down." 

"  Served  him  right,"  one  of  the  sailors  said.  "  He  had 
no  right  to  come  aft  at  all,  and  if  he  drew  his  knife  on 
you  you  were  quite  right  in  laying  him  out.  But  you 
must  have  hit  him  mighty  hard,  for  you  have  knocked 
the  life  pretty  near  out  of  him.  Well,  we  may  as  well 
carry  him  forward  and  throw  a  bucket  of  water  over  him. 
That  is  the  worst  of  these  foreign  chaps;  they  are  always- 
so  ready  with  their  knives.  However,  I  don't  think 
he  will  be  likely  to  try  his  hand  on  an  Englishman 
again." 

Mark  and  his  friend  went  below  again.     In  the  morn- 


284  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

ing  Mark  asked  one  of  the  sailors  if  the  foreigner  was 
much  hurt. 

"  Well,  he  is  a  good  bit  hurt,  sir.  That  big  chap 
looks  as  strong  as  a  bullock,  and  his  blow  has  flattened 
the  foreign  chap's  nose.  He  cannot  see  out  of  his  eyes 
this  morning,  and  is  keeping  his  bunk.  They  cannot 
stand  a  blow,  those  foreign  chaps;  but  I  don't  suppose 
that  any  of  us  would  have  stood  such  a  blow  as  that, 
without  feeling  it  pretty  heavy.  The  man  who  hit  him 
is  quite  sorry  this  morning  that  he  hit  him  quite  so  hot, 
but,  as  he  says,  when  a  fellow  draws  a  knife  on  you, 
you  have  not  got  much  time  for  thinking  it  over,  and 
you  have  got  to  hit  quick  and  hard.  I  told  him  he 
needn't  be  sorry  about  it.  I  consider  when  a  fellow 
draws  a  knife  that  hanging  aint  too  bad  for  him,  whether 
he  gets  it  into  a  2nan  or  not."  There  was  a  growl  of 
assent  from  two  or  three  sailors  standing  round,  for  in 
those  days  the  use  of  the  knife  was  almost  unknown  in 
England,  and  was  abhorrent  to  Englishmen,  both  as 
being  cowardly  and  unfair,  and  as  being  a  purely  foreign 
crime. 

"  It  will  be  dark  before  we  get  alongside,"  Mark  said 
to  the  two  detectives.  "  Do  you  two  walk  first;  we  will 
keep  just  behind  you,  and  the  others  shall  follow  as 
close  as  they  can  keep  to  us.  If  anyone  is  looking  out 
for  us  they  will  see  that  we  are  a  strong  party,  and  that 
it  would  be  no  good  to  attack  us,  for  even  if  they  were 
to  stab  me  it  would  not  be  possible  to  search  me  for  the 
diamonds  Avhen  I  am  with  a  party  like  this." 

It  was  indeed  quite  dark  when  the  brig  brought  up 
outside  a  tier  of  vessels  lying  by  the  wharf.  A  few  oil 
lamps  burning  by  the  quay  showed  that  there  were  a 
good  many  people  still  sauntering  about.  The  party 
waited  until  the  rest  of  the  passengers  had  landed. 
They  learned  from  one  of  those  who  knew  the  place  that 
the  hotel  to  which  they  were  going  was  but  three  or 
four  hundred  yards  away,  and  obtained  directions  how 
to  find  it. 

"  Now  we  will  go,"  Mark  said.  "  Gibbons,  you  had 
better  keep  a  sharp  lookout  on  your  own  account.  That 
fellow  you  knocked  down  may  try  to  put  a  knife  into  you.''' 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.     "  285- 

"  I  will  keep  a  sharp  lookout,  sir,  never  you  fear." 

"I  think,  Tring,  you  had  better  watch  Gibbons;  he 
is  more  in  danger  than  I  am.  Have  you  seen  the  man 
go  on  shore?  " 

"  Yes,  he  was  the  very  first  to  cross  onto  the  next 
vessel,"  Tring  said. 

The  loungers  on  the  quay  had  gathered  together  to 
watch  the  passengers  as  they  left  the  ship,  and  by  the 
dim  light  from  one  of  the  oil  lamps  it  could  be  seen 
that  the  majority  of  them  were  of  the  roughest  class. 
As  they  were  passing  through  them  a  man  with  a  cry 
of  rage  sprang  at  Gibbons  with  an  uplifted  knife. 
Tring's  fist  struck  him  under  the  ear  as  he  was  in  the 
act  of  striking,  and  he  fell  like  a  log.  There  was  a  cry 
of  "Down  with  them!"  and  a  rush  of  a  score  of  men,, 
most  of  whom  were  armed  with  heavy  bludgeons. 

The  party  was  at  once  broken  up,  heavy  blows  were 
exchanged,  the  two  pugilists  rolling  their  assailants  over 
like  ninepins,  but  receiving  several  heavy  blows  from 
their  assailants'  clubs.  A  rush  of  five  or  six  men 
separated  Mark  from  the  others.  Those  in  front  of  him 
he  struck  down,  but  a  moment  later  received  a  tremen- 
dous blow  on  the  back  of  the  head  which  struck  him  to 
the  ground  unconscious.  His  companions  were  all  too 
busy  defending  themselves  against  their  assailants  to 
notice  what  had  been  done,  and  as  the  attack  had  taken 
place  in  the  center  of  the  roadway  behind  the  quay,  there 
was  no  lamp,  and  the  fight  was  taking  place  in  almost 
total  darkness. 

By  this  time  many  people  had  run  up  at  the  sound 
of  the  fray.  A  minute  later  there  was  a  cry  that  the 
watch  were  coming,  and  four  or  five  men  with  lanterns 
emerged  from  one  of  the  streets  leading  down  to  the 
quays,  and  hurried  towards  the  spot.  The  fight  at  once 
ceased,  the  men  who  had  attacked  mingled  with  the 
crowd,  and  when  the  watch  came  up  they  found  the  five 
Englishmen  clustered  together  and  ten  or  twelve  men 
lying  on  the  ground. 

The  instant  that  the  fight  had  ceased  Dick  Chetwynd 
asked,  "  Where  is  Mr.  Thorndyke?" 

No  answer  was  given.     The  other   four  men  simul- 


286  COLONEL   THORNDYKE' S  SECRET. 

taneously  uttered  exclamations  of  alarm.  The  crowd 
was  thinning  fast  as  the  watch  came  up. 

"  What  is  all  this  ahout  ?  "  one  of  them  asked  in  Dutch. 

"Do  any  of  you  speak  English?"  Dick  asked. 

"  I  do,"  one  of  them  said. 

"  We  landed  five  minutes  ago  from  that  craft,"  com 
tinned  Dick,  "  and  as  we  came  across  we  were  attacked 
by  a  band  of  ruffians.  An  Englishman,  one  of  our  party, 
is  missing." 

"Whose  bodies  are  these?"  the  watchman  asked,  rais- 
ing his  lantern  and  pointing  to  them. 

"  Perhaps  Mr.  Thorndyke  is  among  them,"  Dick 
Chetwynd  said. 

The  fallen  figures  were  examined  by  the  light  of  the 
lanterns.  Mark  was  not  among  them.  The  watchmen 
uttered  an  exclamation  of  astonishment  as  they  looked  at 
the  men's  faces. 

"  What  did  you  strike  them  with? "  the  one  who 
spoke  first  asked. 

"  Struck  them  with  our  fists,  of  course,"  Gibbons 
Teplied.  They  will  do  well  enough;  you  need  not  bother 
about  them,  they  will  come  round  again  presently.  The 
question  is,  Where  is  Mr.  Thorndyke?  " 

The  whole  of  the  lookers-on  had  dispersed,  each  fear- 
ing that  he  might  be  charged  with  taking  part  in  the 
outrage. 

"  This  is  a  very  serious  matter,"  Chetwynd  said.  "  We 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  attack  was  premedi- 
tated, for  the  gentleman  who  is  missing  was  known  to 
have  some  valuables  on  him;  all  these  fellows  ought  to 
be  taken  and  locked  up  and  made  to  give  an  account  of 
themselves.  We  are  going  to  the  Hotel  d'Hollande, 
where  you  can  find  us  at  any  time.  I  dare  say  some  of 
these  scoundrels  are  known  to  you,  and  that  may  give 
you  a  clew  as  to  where  Mr.  Thorndyke  is. 

"I  have  but  little  hope  that  he  will  be  found  alive; 
no  doubt  he  has  been  stabbed  and  his  body  carried  off 
so  that  they  can  search  his  clothes  at  their  leisure.  We 
came  in  a  strong  party  to  prevent  the  risk  of  an  attack 
upon  Mr.  Thorndyke.  Here  is  my  card.  It  is  of  no  use 
our  attempting  to  search  by  ourselves,  but  if  you  will  get 


COLONEL    THORNDYKE'B  SECRET.  28* 

these  fellows  taken  to  the  watch-house,  and  will  call  at 
the  hotel,  we  will  join  your  party  and  help  you  to  search 
the  places  you  think  he  has  most  likely  been  taken  to." 

"  I  think,  sir,  you  had  better  come  with  me  to  the 
watch-house,  and  see  the  Lieutenant,  and  tell  him  what 
has  happened." 

(i  I  will  just  take  my  friends  to  the  hotel,  and  shall  be 
back  from  there  before  you  have  got  men  to  take  these 
fellows  away.  If  you  go  to  one  of  those  ships  and  borrow 
a  bucket,  empty  it  over  each  of  them;  you  will  find  that 
will  bring  them  to!  " 

As  soon  as  they  arrived  at  the  hotel  Dick  ordered  a 
private  sitting  room  and  five  bedrooms. 

"  We  have  made  a  terrible  mess  of  this,  lads,"  he  said 
gloomily.  "  I  don't  say  that  it  is  any  of  our  faults,  but 
it  is  a  horrible  affair.  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that 
Mr.  Thorndyke  has  been  killed,  and  it  is  no  satisfaction 
to  us  that  we  have  pretty  nearly  done  for  a  dozen  of 
those  scoundrels." 

"  I  would  not  have  had  it  happen  for  a  hundred 
pounds,  nor  a  thousand,  sir.  If  there  had  been  daylight 
we  could  have  licked  a  score  of  them  in  spite  of  their 
bludgeons,  but  they  came  with  such  a  rush  at  us  that  we 
got  separated  before  we  knew  where  we  were.  I  don't 
think  that  it  was  our  fault.  I  feel  as  much  ashamed  as  if 
I  had  thrown  up  the  sponge  in  the  ring  at  the  end  of  the 
first  round.  To  think  that  we  came  over  here,  four  of 
us,  and  yourself,  sir,  on  purpose  to  take  care  of  Mr. 
Thorndyke,  all  well  save  a  few  knocks  with  those  sticks, 
and  Mr.  Thorndyke  killed  and  carried  off  before  we  have 
been  on  shore  five  minutes.  A  better  young  fellow  I 
never  put  on  the  gloves  with; "  and  Gibbons  passed  the 
back  of  his  hand  across  his  eyes. 

"  Well,  I  must  be  off  now,"  Chetwynd  said.  "  I  feel 
heartbroken  over  it.  I  have  known  him  since  we  were 
boys  together;  and  what  makes  it  worse  is  that  only 
three  days  ago  he  became  engaged  to  be  married.  How 
we  are  going  to  take  the  news  back  God  only  knows!  " 

As  he  hurried  down  the  street  towards  the  wharf  he 
saw  a  number  of  lanterns  coming  towards  him,  and  ten 
or  twelve  watchmen  came  along  escorting  the  prisoners, 


288  -  COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

many  of  whose  faces  were  covered  with  blood;  then  came 
four  other  watchmen  carried  a  body  on  a  stretcher. 

"  One  of  them  is  dead,"  the  watchman  who  had  before 
spoken  said  to  Dick.  "  A  foreign  seaman,  a  Lascar  I 
should  say,  from  his  color;  we  found  an  open  knife  by 
his  side." 

"  That  is  the  man  who  began  the  fray,"  Chetwynd  said. 
41  He  was  on  the  point  of  stabbing  one  of  my  companions 
when  another  hit  him  under  the  ear." 

"What!"  the  watchman  said.  "He  must  have  been 
hit  like  the  kick  of  a  horse.  All  these  prisoners  seem  to 
have  been  struck  but  once;  two  of  them  cannot  speak. 
I  think  their  jaws  are  broken;  four  of  them  have  broken 
noses,  and  another  has  had  all  his  front  teeth  knocked 
out,  while  the  others  are  nearly  as  bad." 

"  I  see  you  have  brought  with  you  some  of  their  bludg- 
eons," Dick  said,  pointing  to  one  of  the  watchmen 
carrying  a  great  bundle  of  sticks  over  his  shoulder. 

"  Yes,  sir,  twenty-three  of  them;  it  certainly  seems  to 
show  that  it  was  a  planned  thing.  Most  of  these  fellows' 
faces  are  so  bruised  that  I  cannot  say  who  they  are  at 
present,  but  two  or  three  are  known  as  the  worst  ruffians 
in  the  city,  and  I  have  no  doubt  we  shall  find  that  they 
all  belong  to  the  same  gang." 

By  this  time  they  had  arrived  at  the  watch-house,  a 
building  of  considerable  size;  the  prisoners  were  first 
lodged  in  a  strong  room  with  barred  windows  and  very 
heavy  doors,  and  then  the  watchman  went  with  Chetwynd 
to  the  Lieutenant's  room.  The  officer  had  just  returned, 
having  hurried  down  with  a  re-enforcement  to  the  wharf 
as  soon  as  he  had  heard  of  the  fray,  and  tried  to  obtain 
some  information  from  the  people  who  had  gathered 
round,  attracted  by  the  lanterns  of  the  watch.  He  had 
already  learned  from  the  watchmen  all  they  knew  about 
the  affair.  As  he  spoke  English  well,  he  at  once  ad- 
dressed Dick: 

"  This  is  a  serious  affair,  sir." 

"  A  very  serious  affair,  for,  indeed,  I  am  afraid  that 
my  dearest  friend  has  been  murdered." 

"  Will  you  kindly  give  me  the  particulars  ?  "  the  officer 
said,  sitting  down  to  the  table  with  a  pen  in  his  hand. 


COLONEL  THORNBTKE'S  SECRET.  289 

Dick  Chetwynd  told  him  the  story  of  how  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke,  having  some  very  valuable  jewels  that  he  wished 
to  dispose  of,  and  believing  that  he  would  be  attacked 
by  a  band  of  robbers,  had  asked  him  to  accompany  him, 
and  had  brought  four  detective  officers  "and  pugilists  to 
protect  him  against  any  sudden  attack. 

"  Ah,  that  accounts  for  the  terrible  blows  that  these 
fellows  received,"  the  officer  said.  "  And  your  friend, 
was  he  a  strong  man?  " 

"  He  was  a  man  exceptionally  strong,  and  a  match  for 
either  of  the  pugilists  that  he  brought  over.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  he  was  stabbed,  though  of  course  he  might 
have  been  brought  down  by  a  blow  from  one  of  the 
bludgeons.  He  must  have  been  completely  insensible 
when  carried  off. 

"  The  watchman  here  tells  me  that  three  or  four  of 
these  ruffians  are  known,  and  perhaps  if  you  will  give 
orders  for  the  blood  to  be  washed  off  the  others'  faces 
some  more  may  be  recognized  and  prove  an  aid  in 
enabling  you  to  form  an  idea  where  Mr.  Thorndyke  has 
been  carried.  I  trust  that  you  will  send  out  a  party  to 
search  for  him.  I  and  the  four  men  with  me  will  gladly 
join  them,  and  may  be  of  use  if  any  resistance  is  offered." 

The  Lieutenant  at  once  gave  orders  to  the  watchman 
to  go  down  and  see  that  the  prisoners  all  washed  their 
faces.  As  soon  as  he  returned  with  the  report  that  this 
was  done  the  officer  went  down  with  Dick  Chetwynd  to 
examine  them.  Three  or  four  of  the  men  with  lanterns 
also  went  in.  Eight  out  of  eleven  men  were  recognized; 
the  other  three,  whose  features  were  so  swollen  that  they 
could  not  see  out  of  their  eyes,  could  not  be  made  out,  but 
their  companions,  on  being  questioned,  gave  their  names 

"  They  all  belong  to  a  gang  of  wharf  thieves  and 
plunderers.  They  live  in  a  slum  near  the  water.  I  wi]l 
have  men  posted  in  the  lanes  leading  to  it,  and  will 
myself  go  with  you  to  see  that  a  search  is  made  of  every 
house;  but  first  I  will  try  to  find  out  from  these  fellows 
where  he  was  to  be  taken.  Now,  my  men,"  he  said, 
**  anyone  of  you  who  will  tell  me  where  one  of  the  party 
3'ou  attacked  was  to  be  taken  to  will  find  things  made 
easy  for  him  at  his  trial." 


290  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

None  of  the  men  spoke  for  a  minute,  and  then  one  said: 

"  We  know  nothing  about  it;  how  should  we,  when  we 
were  all  knocked  stupid?" 

"  No,  but  you  might  know  where  he  was  to  be  taken." 

"  I  know  nothing  about  that.  We  all  got  word  to 
mind  we  were  on  the  wharf  when  a  brig,  that  was  seen 
coming  up,  came  alongside,  and  that  we  were  to  have 
a  hundred  francs  each  for  attacking  some  of  the  passen- 
gers as  they  landed.  Six  of  them  came  along  together, 
and  one  said,  '  These  are  the  men.'  A  black  sailor  came 
up  first  and  spoke  to  two  or  three  men  in  some  foreign 
language.  I  don't  know  who  the  men  were;  it  was  too 
dark  to  see  their  faces.  It  was  one  of  them  who  gave 
the  order.  It  seemed  an  easy  job  enough  when  there 
were  twenty-five  of  us  with  heavy  sticks,  but  it  didn't 
turn  out  so.  I  only  know  that  I  hit  one  big  fellow  a 
blow  that  ought  to  have  knocked  him  down,  and  the  next 
moment  there  was  a  crash,  and  I  don't  know  anything 
more  about  it  until  a  lot  of  water  was  thrown  over  me 
and  one  of  the  watch  helped  me  to  my  feet.  I  don't 
know  whether  the  others  know  more  than  I  do,  but  I 
don't  think  they  do." 

All  the  others  protested  at  once  that  they  were  equally 
ignorant.  They  had  gone  to  earn  a  hundred  francs. 
They  had  been  told  that  the  money  was  all  right,  but 
who  found  it  or  who  were  the  men  to  be  attacked  they 
had  not  the  least  idea. 

"  How  was  it  that  you  all  had  these  bludgeons — there 
were  no  knives  found  on  any  of  }rou?  " 

The  man  who  spoke  before  said: 

"  The  order  was  '  No  knives,'  and  before  we  went  down 
to  the  wharf  each  of  us  was  searched  and  a  stick  given 
to  us.  I  suppose  from  that,  that  whoever  paid  for  the 
job  didn't  want  blood  to  be  shed;  it  suited  us  well 
enough,  for  it  was  a  job  there  was  sure  to  be  a  row  over, 
and  I  don't  suppose  any  of  us  wanted  to  put  his  head  in 
a  noose.  I  know  that  we  all  said  to  each  other  as  we 
went  out  that  it  did  not  want  such  sticks  as  we  had  to 
give  a  man  a  thrashing,  but  the  man  who  hired  us,  who- 
ever he  was,  knew  his  customers  better  than  we  did." 

The  officer  translated  the  man's  words  as  they  were 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  291 

spoken  to  Dick,  and  on  hearing  the  last  speech,  the  latter 
said: 

"  Then  there  is  still  hope  that  Thorndyke  may  only 
have  been  stunned;  that  is  a  greater  reason  for  our 
losing  no  time  in  looking  for  him,  for  I  am  afraid  that 
they  won't  hesitate  to  kill  him  when  they  have  got  him 
hidden  away." 

"  I  expect,"  the  Lieutenant  said,  "  they  thought  that 
if  any  of  the  watch  came  upon  them  as  they  were  carry- 
ing him  off,  they  might  be  at  once  arrested  if  it  was  found 
that  they  were  carrying  a  dead  man,  whilst  if  he  were 
only  stunned  they  would  say  that  it  was  a  drunken  com- 
rade who  had  fallen  and  knocked  his  head  against  some- 
thing. I  agree  with  you,  sir;  we  had  better  start  on  our 
search  at  once." 

"Will  you  pass  the  Hotel  d'Hollande?  If  not,  I  will 
run  and  bring  my  men." 

"  Yes,  I  will  go  that  way;  it  will  be  no  further." 

Dick  walked  on  fast. 

"  We  have  no  news  of  him,"'  he  said,  as  he  entered  the 
room  where  the  four  men  were  anxiously  awaiting  him, 
"  but  we  and  the  watch  are  now  going  to  search  the  slums 
where  the  men  who  were  taken  prisoners  all  live;  come 
down  now,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  I  have  learned,  before 
the  others  come  up.  There  is  reason  for  believing  that 
he  was  not  stabbed,"  he  went  on,  as  they  reached  the 
street,  "  for  the  men  all  say  that  they  were  armed  only 
with  clubs,  and  that  the  strictest  orders  were  given  that 
none  were  to  carry  knives,  therefore  there  is  little  doubt 
that  he  was  at  the  time  only  stunned.  But  I  am  bound 
to  say  that  this  gives  me  very  small  ground  for  hoping 
that  we  may  find  him  alive.  I  fear  they  only  stunned 
him,  so  that  they  might  carry  him  safely  to  their  haunts, 
for  if  stopped  they  could  say  that  it  was  a  drunken  com- 
rade, who  had  fallen  and  hurt  himself.  I  fear  that  when 
they  get  him  into  one  of  their  dens  they  will  make 
short  work  of  him,  therefore  it  is  clear  that  there  is  not 
a  moment  to  be  lost.     Ah,  here  comes  the  watch." 

There  were  eight  men  with  the  Lieutenant. 

"  I  have  already  sent  off  ten  others,"  he  said  as  he 
joined  Chetwynd,  "  to  watch  the  lanes,  and  let  no  one 


292  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

go  in  or  out.  I  thought  it  best  not  to  lose  a  moment 
about  that,  for  when  the  men  see  that  we  have  learned 
from  the  others  where  the  gang  came  from,  and  have 
closed  the  avenues  of  escape,  they  will  hesitate  about 
murdering  their  prisoner  if  he  was  still  alive  when  my 
men  got  there." 

In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  they  arrived  at  the  end  of  a 
narrow  lane,  where  two  watchmen  were  standing  with 
lanterns. 

"  You  have  seen  nor  heard  nothing?  "  the  Lieutenant 
asked  him. 

"  No,  sir,  we  have  not  seen  a  man  moving  in  the  lane." 

"  There  is  just  one  hope  that  we  might  be  in  time,"  the 
Lieutenant  said,  as  he  went  on  down  the  lane,  "  and  that 
is,  that  the  fellows  when  they  gather  will  be  so  dismayed 
at  finding  that  nearly  half  their  number  are  missing,  and 
know  that  some  of  them  are  pretty  sure  to  make  a  clean 
breast  of  it,  they  will  hesitate  to  complete  their  crime. 
It  is  one  thing  to  rob  a  man  in  the  streets,  quite  another 
to  murder  him  in  cold  blood.  There  is  likely  to  be  a 
good  deal  of  difference  of  opinion  among  them,  some  of 
the  more  desperate  being  in  favor  of  carrying  the  thing 
through,  but  others  are  sure  to  be  against  it,  and  nothing 
may  have  been  done.  You  may  be  sure  that  the  sight 
of  my  men  at  the  end  of  the  lanes  will  still  further  alarm 
them.  I  have  no  doubt  the  news  that  we  have  sur- 
rounded the  district  has  already  been  circulated,  and  that 
if  alive  now  he  is  safe,  for  they  will  think  it  is  better  to 
suffer  a  year  or  two's  imprisonment  than  to  be  tried  for 
murder.  We  are  sure  to  make  some  captures,  for  it  is 
probable  that  several  of  the  others  will  bear  marks  of  the 
fight.  Each  man  we  take  we  will  question  separately; 
one  or  other  of  them  is  pretty  safe  to  be  ready  to  say 
where  your  friend  was  taken  to  if  I  promise  him  that  he 
shan't  be  prosecuted." 

Every  house  in  the  district  was  searched  from  top  to 
bottom.  Six  men,  with  cut  and  bruised  faces,  were  found 
shamming  sleep,  and  were  separately  questioned  closely; 
all  declared  that  they  knew  nothing  whatever  of  anyone 
being  carried  there. 

"  It  is  of  no  use  your  denying  your  share  in  the  affair/7 


COLONEL   THORNDYEE'8  SECRET.  29S 

the  Lieutenant  said.  "  Your  comrades  have  confessed 
that  there  were  twenty-five  of  you  hired  to  carry  out  this, 
and  that  you  received  a  hundred  francs  each.  Now,  if 
this  gentleman  is  not  found,  it  will  be  a  hanging  matter 
for  some  of  you,  and  you  had  better  tell  all  you  know. 
If  you  will  tell  us  where  he  is,  I  will  promise  that  you 
shan't  be  included  in  the  list  of  those  who  will  be 
prosecuted." 

The  reply,  although  put  in  different  words,  was  identi- 
cal with  that  of  the  prisoners. 

"  We  had  nothing  to  do  with  carrying  him  off;  we 
were  hired  only  to  knock  the  men  down  who  were  pointed 
out  to  us;  not  a  word  was  said  about  carrying  them  off. 
He  may  have  been  carried  off,  that  we  cannot  say,  but  he 
has  certainly  not  been  brought  here,  and  none  of  us  had 
anything  to  do  with  it." 

Morning  was  breaking  before  the  search  was  concluded. 
The  detectives,  accustomed  as  they  were  to  visit  the  worst 
slums  of  London,  were  horrified  at  the  crowding,  the 
squalor,  and  the  misery  of  the  places  they  entered. 

"  My  opinion,  Mr.  Chetwynd,"  Gibbons  growled,  "  is 
that  the  best  thing  to  do  would  be  to  put  a  score  of 
soldiers  at  the  end  of  all  these  lanes,  and  then  to  burn 
the  whole  place  down,  and  make  a  clean  sweep  of  it. 
I  never  saw  such  a  villainous-looking  crew  in  all  my  life. 
I  have  been  in  hopes  all  along  that  some  of  them  would 
resist;  it  would  have  been  a  real  pleasure  to  have  let  fly 
at  them." 

"  They  are  a  villainous  set  of  wretches,  Gibbons,  but 
they  may  not  be  all  criminals." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,  sir;  but  I  know  that  if  I  were  on 
a  jury,  and  any  of  the  lot  were  in  the  dock,  I  should  not 
want  to  hear  any  evidence  against  them;  their  faces  are 
enough  to  hang  them." 

At  last  the  search  was  over,  and  they  were  glad  indeed 
when  they  emerged  from  the  lanes  and  breathed  the  pure 
air  outside,  for  all  the  Englishmen  felt  sick  at  the  poison- 
ous air  of  the  dens  they  had  entered.  The  prisoners,  as 
they  were  taken,  had  been  sent  off  to  the  watch-house. 

"  I  begin  to  think  that  the  story  these  fellows  tell  is  a 
true  one,  Mr.  Chetwynd,"  the  Lieutenant  said,  "  and  that 


294  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

they  had  nothing  to  do  with  carrying  your  friend  off.  In 
the  first  place,  they  all  tell  the  same  story:  that  in  itself 
would  not  he  much,  as  that  might  have  been  settled 
beforehand;  but  it  is  hardly  likely  that  one  of  the  lot 
would  not  have  been  ready  to  purchase  his  life  by  turn- 
ing on  the  others.  There  is  very  little  honor  among 
thieves;  and  as  they  know  that  we  have  taken  their  mates 
— for  no  doubt  we  were  watched  as  we  marched  them 
up  the  town — they  would  make  sure  that  someone  would 
turn  traitor,  and  would  think  they  might  as  well  be 
beforehand.  I  fancy  that  the  men,  whoever  they  are, 
who  hired  this  gang  to  attack  you,  carried  out  that  part 
of  the  business  themselves." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  is  so,"  Dick  agreed;  "  and  I  fear  in 
that  case  that  he  is  in  even  worse  hands  than  if  these 
ruffians  here  had  taken  him." 

"  Well,  sir,  can  you  furnish  us  with  any  clew?  " 

"  The  only  clew  is  that  they  were  most  probably  dark 
men.  That  man  who  was  killed  was  undoubtedly  one  of 
them.  I  should  say  that  they  would  probably  be  got  up 
as  foreign  sailors." 

"  Well,  that  is  something  to  go  upon,  at  any  rate.  I 
will  send  round  men  at  once  to  all  the  places  b}^  the  quays 
where  sailors  board,  and  if  three  or  four  of  them  have 
been  together  at  any  place  we  are  sure  to  hear  of  it,  and 
the  moment  I  have  news  I  will  send  to  your  hotel." 

"  Thank  you;  I  don't  see  that  we  can  be  of  any  use  at 
present,  but  you  will  find  us  ready  to  turn  out  again  the 
moment  we  hear  that  you  have  news." 

When  the  party  returned  to  the  hotel  they  sat  talking 
the  matter  over  for  upwards  of  an  hour.  All  were 
greatly  discouraged,  for  they  had  little  hope  indeed  of 
ever  learning  what  had  become  of  Mark.  As  they  had 
started  out  Dick  had  told  the  night  porter  that  he  could 
not  say  what  time  they  might  return,  but  that  before  the 
house  closed  he  must  have  a  couple  of  bottles  of  spirits 
and  some  tumblers  sent  up  to  their  sitting  room,  together 
with  some  bread  and  cold  meat,  for  that  they  might  not 
return  until  morning,  and  would  need  something  before 
they  went  to  bed,  as  they  had  had  nothing  since  their 
dinner,  at  one  o'clock. 


COLONEL  THOBND  YKE'S  SECRET.  295 

"  It  wants  something  to  take  the  taste  of  that  place 
out  of  one's  mouth,"  Tring  said  to  Dick,  as,  directly  they 
entered,  he  poured  some  spirits  into  the  glasses.  "  I  feel 
as  queer  as  if  I  had  been  hocussed." 

All,  indeed,  were  feeling  the  same,  and  it  was  not  until 
they  had  eaten  their  supper  and  considerably  lowered  the 
spirits  in  the  two  bottles  that  they  began  to  talk.  The 
two  detectives  were  the  principal  speakers,  and  both  of 
these  were  of  opinion  that  the  only  shadow  of  hope 
remaining  rested  upon  Mark  himself. 

"  Unless  they  finished  him  before  he  came  round," 
Malcolm  said,  "  they  would  find  him  an  awkward 
customer  to  deal  with.  Mr.  Thorndyke  has  got  his  head 
screwed  on  right,  and  if,  as  you  say,  they  are  Indians,  Mr. 
Chetwynd,  I  should  think  that  if  he  once  comes  fairly 
round,  unless  he  is  tied  up,  he  will  be  a  match  for  them, 
even  with  their  knives.  That  is  the  only  chance  I  see. 
Even  if  the  watch  do  find  out  that  three  or  four  foreign 
sailors  have  been  at  one  of  the  boarding-houses  and 
did  not  turn  up  last  night,  I  don't  think  we  shall  be 
much  nearer.  They  will  probably  only  have  carried 
him  some  distance  along  the  wharf,  got  to  some  quiet 
place  where  there  is  a  big  pile  of  wood,  or  something  of 
that  sort,  then  put  a  knife  into  him,  searched  for  the 
diamonds,  which  you  may  be  sure  they  would  find  easily 
enough  wherever  he  had  hidden  them,  and  then  make  off, 
most  likely  for  Eotterdam  or  The  Hague;  they  could  be 
at  either  of  these  places  by  this  time,  and  will  mostly 
likely  divide  the  diamonds  and  get  on  board  different 
craft,  bound  for  London  or  Hull,  or  indeed  any  other 
port,  and  then  ship  for  India.  From  what  Mr.  Thorn- 
dyke  said  they  did  not  want  the  diamonds  to  sell,  but 
only  to  carry  back  to  some  temple  from  which  they  were 
stolen  twenty  years  ago." 

Chester  was  of  precisely  the  same  opinion. 

"  I  am  afraid,  Mr.  Chetwynd,"  he  added,  as  they  rose 
to  go  to  their  rooms  for  two  or  three  hours'  sleep,  "  the 
only  news  that  we  shall  get  in  the  morning  is  that  Mr. 
Thorndyke's  body  has  been  found." 


CHAPTEE   XX. 

At  ten  o'clock  a  constable  came  with  a  message  from 
the  Lieutenant  to  Mr.  Chetwynd  that  he  would  be  glad  if 
he  would  come  down  to  the  watch-house.  Dick  did  not 
wake  the  others,  but  freshening  himself  up  by  pouring  a 
jug  of  water  over  his  head,  went  at  once  with  the 
constable. 

"  Have  you  news  ?  "  he  asked  eagerly  as  he  entered. 

"  Yes,  the  men  returned  an  hour  ago.  At  four  of  the 
houses  they  went  to  a  foreign  sailor  had  been  lodging 
there  for  the  last  day  or  so,  but  yesterday  afternoon  all 
had  paid  their  reckoning  and  left.  Then  the  idea  struck 
me  that  it  would  be  as  well  to  ask  if  they  had  been  seen 
on  the  quays,  and  I  sent  off  a  fresh  batch  of  men  to  make 
inquiries.  A  quarter  of  an  hour  ago  one  of  them  came 
back  with  the  news  that  he  had  learned  from  a  sailor  that 
he  had  noticed  a  dark-colored  foreigner,  whom  he  took 
to  be  a  Lascar  sailor,  talking  to  a  boatman,  and  that  they 
had  rowed  off  together  to  a  barge  anchored  a  short  way 
out;  he  did  not  notice  anything  more  about  him. 

"  Now,  I  should  not  be  at  all  surprised  if  the  fellow 
went  off  to  arrange  with  the  bargeman  for  a  passage  for 
himself  and  four  or  five  comrades  to  some  port  or  other, 
it  might  be  anywhere.  It  would  make  no  difference  to 
them  where  the  barge  was  bound  for.  No  doubt  he  saw 
the  man  again  after  the  brig  was  sighted,  and  told  him 
that  they  should  come  on  board  soon  after  it  got  dark, 
and  told  him  to  have  the  boat  at  the  stairs.  You  see,  in 
that  case  they  might  not<  have  carried  Mr.  Thorndyke 
above  fifty  yards.  They  would  probably  get  him  on 
board  as  one  of  their  party  who  had  been  drunk.  The 
barge,  no  doubt,  got  under  way  about  nine  o'clock,  which 
is  the  hour  when  the  tide  was  high  last  night,  and  during 
the  night  the  Indians  could  easily  drop  your  friend  over- 
board— and  may  even  have  done  so  before  they  got  under 

286 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  297 

way,  which  would  have  heen  the  easiest  thing  to  do. 
There  would  have  been  no  one  at  the  helm,  and  they 
could  have  chosen  a  moment  when  the  crew,  probably 
only  three,  were  below.  I  am  afraid  that  this  is  not  a 
cheering  lookout,  but  I  have  little  doubt  that  it  is  the 
correct  one. 

"  I  have  told  my  men  to  find  out  what  barge  was  lying 
at  the  spot  the  sailor  pointed  out,  and  if  we  discover  her 
name,  which  we  are  likely  to  be  able  to  do,  there  will  be 
no  difficulty  in  finding  out  to  whom  she  belongs  and 
where  she  was  bound  for.  Then  we  can  follow  it  up; 
though  there  is  little  likelihood  of  our  finding  the 
murderers  still  on  board." 

"  Thank  you  very  much  for  the  pains  that  you  are 
taking,  sir,"  Dick  said.  "  I  am  afraid  that  there  is  no 
shadow  of  hope  of  finding  my  poor  friend  alive.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  thing  has  happened  exactly  as  you 
suggest;  the  whole  course  of  the  affair  shows  how  care- 
fully it  was  planned,  and  I  have  no  hope  that  any  scruple 
about  taking  life  would  be  felt  by  them  for  a  moment. 
I  will  go  back  to  the  hotel,  and  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you 
will  let  me  know  as  soon  as  you  obtain  any  clew  as  to  the 
barge." 

An  hour  and  a  half  later  the  officer  himself  came  round 
to  the  room  where  Dick  Chetwynd  and  the  two  pugilists 
were  sitting.  The  detectives  had  started  out  to  make 
inquiries  on  their  own  account,  taking  with  them  a 
hanger-on  at  the  hotel  who  spoke  English. 

"  The  barge's  name  was  the  Julie,"  he  said;  "  she  has 
a  cargo  on  board  for  Eotterdam." 

"  I  think  the  best  thing  would  be  to  take  a  carriage, 
and  drive  there  at  once,"  Dick  said. 

"  You  can  do  that,  sir,  but  I  don't  think  you  will  be 
there  before  the  barge;  they  have  something  like  eighteen 
hours'  start  for  you,  and  the  wind  has  been  all  the  time 
in  the  east.  I  should  say  that  they  would  be  there  by 
eight  o'clock  this  morning." 

"  No,  I  don't  know  that  it  would  be  of  any  use,  but  at 
least  it  would  be  doing  something.  I  suppose  we  could 
be  there  in  four  hours?  " 

"  From  that  to  five;  but  even  if  the  barge  were  delayed, 


298  COLONEL   THOBNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

and  you  got  there  first,  which  is  very  unlikely,  I  do  not 
think  that  there  would  be  the  remotest  chance  of  finding 
those  villains  on  board.  I  reckon  they  would,  as  we 
agreed,  launch  the  body  overboard  even  before  they  got 
under  way  here,  and  they  may  either  have  landed  again 
before  the  craft  got  under  way,  pretending  that  they  had 
changed  their  minds,  and  then  walked  across  to  The 
Hague  or  to  Haarlem,  or  have  gone  on  with  the  barge 
for  two  hours,  or  even  until  daybreak.  If  by  that  time 
they  were  near  Eotterdam,  they  may  have  stayed  on  board 
till  they  got  there;  if  not,  they  may  have  landed,  and 
finished  the  journey  on  foot,  but  they  would  certainly 
not  have  stopped  on  board  after  six  or  seven  o'clock  this 
morning.  They  would  calculate  that  possibly  we  might 
get  on  their  track  at  an  early  hour  this  morning,  and  set 
out  in  pursuit  at  once. 

"  However,  it  will  doubtless  be  a  satisfaction  to  you  to 
be  moving,  and  at  least  you  will  be  able  to  overhaul  the 
barge  when  you  get  to  Rotterdam,  and  to  hear  what  the 
boatmen  say.  The  chances  are  they  will  not  even  have 
noticed  that  one  of  the  men  who  came  on  board  was 
missing.  The  men  may  very  well  have  made  up  a  long 
bundle,  carried  it  on  shore  with  them,  or  three  of  them 
may  have  carried  a  fourth  ashore;  and  in  the  dark  the 
bargemen  were  unlikely  to  have  noticed  that  the  number 
was  less  than  when  they  came  on  board.  However,  it 
will  be  something  for  you  to  find  out  when  and  where  the 
fellows  landed." 

"Yes;  I  should  certainly  like  to  lay  hands  on  them, 
though  I  am  afraid  we  should  find  it  very  hard  to  prove 
that  they  had  anything  to  do  with  this  affair." 

"  I  think  that  also,  Mr.  Chetwynd.  Morally,  we  may 
feel  absolutely  certain;  but,  unless  the  boatmen  noticed 
that  one  of  their  number  was  missing  when  they  landed, 
we  have  at  present  no  evidence  to  connect  them  with  it." 

"  We  will  set  out  as  soon  as  my  other  two  men  return. 
I  told  them  to  be  back  soon  after  twelve.  I  will  write  to 
you  this  evening  from  Eotterdam.  Ah!  here  are  the 
men." 

The  door  opened,  and,  to  the  stupefaction  of  the  party, 
Mark  Thorndyke  entered  the  room. 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  299 

"  Good  Heavens,  Mark! "  Dick  exclaimed,  springing 
forward  and  seizing  his  hand,  "  is  it  really  you  alive  in 
the  flesh?  We  had  given  you  up  for  dead.  We  have 
been  searching  the  town  for  you  all  night,  and  were  just 
going  to  set  out  for  Eotterdam  in  search  of  a  barge  on 
which  we  believed  you  were  carried.  Why,  it  seems 
almost  a  miracle! " 

The  two  prizefighters  also  came  forward,  and  shook 
hands  with  a  pressure  that  would  have  made  most  men 
shrink. 

"  I  am  as  glad,  Mr.  Thorndyke,"  Gibbons  said,  "  as  if 
anyone  had  given  me  a  thousand  pounds.  I  have  never 
quite  given  up  hope,  for,  as  I  said  to  Mr.  Chetwynd,  if 
you  got  but  a  shadow  of  a  chance,  you  would  polish  off 
those  nigger  fellows  in  no  time;  but  I  was  afraid  that 
they  never  would  give  you  a  chance.  Well,  I  am  glad, 
sir." 

"  Mark,  this  is  the  Lieutenant  of  the  watch  here,"  Dick 
said.  "He  has  been  most  kind,  and. has  himself  headed 
the  search  that  has  been  made  for  you  all  night.  Now 
tell  us  all  about  it." 

"  First  of  all  give  me  something  to  drink,  for,  except 
some  water,  I  have  had  nothing  since  dinner  yesterday. 
You  are  right,  Dick;  it  is  almost  a  miracle,  even  to  me, 
that  I  am  here.  I  would  not  have  given  a  penny  for  my 
chance  of  life,  and  I  can  no  more  account  for  the  fact  that 
I  am  here  than  you  can." 

Mark  drank  off  a  tumbler  of  weak  spirits  and  water 
that  Gibbons  poured  out  for  him.  Chetwynd  rang  the 
bell,  and  ordered  lunch  to  be  brought  up  at  once.  Just 
at  this  moment  the  two  detectives  came  in,  and  were 
astonished  and  delighted  at  finding  Mark  there. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  I  will  tell  you  as  much  as  I  know, 
which  is  little  enough.  When  I  came  to  my  senses  I 
found  myself  lying  on  the  deck  of  a  craft  of  some  sort; 
it  was  a  long  time  before  I  could  at  all  understand  how 
I  got  there,  I  think  it  was  the  pain  from  the  back  of 
my  head  that  brought  it  to  my  mind  that  I  must  have 
been  knocked  down  and  stunned  in  that  fight;  for  some 
time  I  was  very  vague  in  my  brain  as  to  that,  but  it  all 
came  back  suddenly,  and  I  recalled  that  we  had  all  got 


500  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

separated.  I  was  hitting  out,  and  then  there  was  a  crashc 
Yes,  I  must  have  been  knocked  down  and  stunned,  and 
I  could  only  suppose  that  in  the  darkness  and  confusion 
I  had  been  carried  off  and  taken  on  board  without  any 
of  you  missing  me;  my  hands  and  feet  were  tied,  and 
there  was  something  shoved  into  my  mouth  that  pre- 
vented me  from  speaking. 

"  I  should  think  that  it  must  have  been  an  hour  before 
I  quite  recovered  my  senses,  and  got  the  thing  fairly  into 
my  mind.  Then  a  man  with  a  knife  leant  over  me,  and 
made  signs  that  if  I  spoke  he  would  stab  me,  and  another 
took  the  gag  out  of  my  mouth  and  poured  some  water 
down  my  throat,  and  then  put  it  in  again.  I  saw  that 
he  was  a  dark-colored  man,  and  I  then  understood  it 
all;  it  was  those  Hindoos  who  had  got  up  the  attack 
upon  us  and  had  carried  me  off.  I  had  no  doubt  they 
had  got  the  diamonds  I  had  sewn  up  in  the  waistband 
of  my  trousers. 

"  I  wondered  why  they  were  keeping  me,  but  was  sure 
they  would  stab  me  presently  and  throw  me  overboard. 
I  knew  that  they  had  killed  two  soldiers  for  the  sake  of 
the  diamonds,  and  if  it  hadn't  been  that  they  had  given 
me  the  water,  I  should  not  have  had  a  shadow  of  doubt 
about  my  fate." 

"  I  puzzled  over  why  they  should  have  done  so,  and 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  dared  not  do  it  on 
board,  because  of  the  crew,  and  that  they  intended  to 
take  me  on  shore  somewhere,  and  there  dispose  of  me. 
I  made  many  attempts  to  loosen  my  ropes,  but  they 
would  not  give  the  slightest.  At  last  I  think  I  dozed 
off  for  a  time.  After  I  had  had  the  water  they  drew  af 
blanket  or  something  of  that  sort  over  me.  It  had  been 
there  before,  but  it  had  only  been  pulled  up  as  high  as 
my  nose,  and  I  felt  sure  that  it  was  only  done  to  prevent 
the  Dutchmen  on  the  boat  seeing  that  I  was  bound  and 


I;  this  time  they  pulled  it  right  over  my  face. 
When  they  took  it  off  again  I  could  see  it  was  nearly 
morning,  for  there  was  a  faint  light  in  the  sky.  They 
were  moving  about  on  the  deck,  and  presently  I  saw  one 
of  the  sailors  get  into  the  boat  and  pull  it  along,  hand 
over  hand,  by  the  rail,  until  he  was  close  to  me.     Then 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  801 

four  Lascar  sort  of  chaps — I  could  scarcely  make  out 
their  features — lifted  me  and  lowered  me  into  the  boat 
and  got  in  themselves. 

"  I  did  not  attempt  to  struggle.  ISTo  doubt  they  had 
made  up  some  tale  that  I  was  mad  or  something  of  that 
sort,  and  I  thought  that  I  had  best  pretend  to  be  quiet 
and  peaceable  till  I  could  see  some  sort  of  chance  of 
making  a  fight  for  it.  It  was  but  a  few  yards  from  the 
shore.  The  man  lifted  me  out  onto  the  bank,  and  the 
sailor  then  started  to  row  back  to  the  barge;  they  carried 
me  a  few  yards  away,  and  then  laid  me  face  downwards 
on  some  grass.  Now,  I  thought  to  myself,  it  is  all  over; 
they  are  going  to  stab  me  and  make  off.  To  my  surprise 
I  felt  they  were  doing  something — I  could  not  make  out 
what — to  the  ropes;  then  there  was  quiet.  I  lay  there 
I  should  think  for  half  an  hour,  wondering  why  on  earth 
they  did  not  finish  me.  At  last  I  made  up  my  mind  to 
move,  and  turned  round  onto  my  back.  As  I  lay  there 
I  could  see  no  one,  and,  raising  my  head,  looked  round. 
To  my  amazement  I  found  that  I  was  alone.  It  was  now 
almost  light,  and  as  I  craned  my  head  in  all  directions  I 
assured  myself  that  they  had  gone;  then  I  began  to  try 
again  at  the  ropes. 

"  To  my  surprise  I  found  that  they  were  much  looser 
than  they  were  before,  although  still  tight  enough  to 
give  me  nearly  an  hour's  work  before  I  got  my  hands 
free.  Then  it  took  me  almost  as  long  to  get  the  ropes 
off  my  legs,  for  they  had  knotted  f,hem  in  such  a  fearfully 
intricate  way  that  it  was  a  long  time  before  I  could  even 
discover  where  the  ends  were.  At  last  I  finished  the  job, 
stood  up,  and  looked  round.  A  quarter  of  a  mile  off 
there  was  a  good-sized  town,  but  not  a  soul  could  I 
see. 

"  Till  now  I  had  hardly  thought  of  the  diamonds;  I  put 
my  hands  to  my  waistband  and  found,  as  I  expected,  that 
they  were  gone.  I  think  I  felt  nothing  but  pleasure: 
the  confounded  things  had  given  trouble  enough,  and  I 
was  well  rid  of  them.  Why  they  should  have  spared  my 
life  I  could  not  imagine.  If  they  had  finished  me,  which 
they  could  have  done  without  any  risk  to  themselves 
when  they  got  me  ashore,  they  could  have  gone  off  with 


302  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

the  diamonds  without  the  slightest  fear  of  pursuit,  while 
now  there  was,  of  course,  a  chance  that  I  might  follow 
and  recognize  them." 

"  Would  you  know  them  again? "  the  Lieutenant 
interrupted. 

"  Not  in  the  slightest;  it  was  light  enough  to  see  that 
they  were  dark,  but  from  the  time  the  boat  came  along 
the  blanket  was  over  my  head,  and  except  when  they 
gave  me  the  water  I  had  no  chance  of  seeing  any  of 
their  features.  Still,  if  I  had  gone  straight  to  the  town 
I  saw  and  reported  the  matter  to  the  authorities  and 
sent  mounted  men  to  all  the  ports  to  warn  them  not  to 
let  any  colored  men  embark,  I  might  have  given  them 
a  lot  of  trouble,  but  I  don't  suppose  any  of  them  would 
ever  have  been  caught.  After  the  craft  they  had  shown 
in  the  whole  matter,  it  is  certain  that  they  would  have 
laid  their  plans  for  escape  so  well  that  the  law  would 
never  have  laid  hands  upon  them.  I  put  my  hand 
mechanically  to  my  watch  to  see  the  time,  and  to  my 
astonishment  discovered  that  I  still  had  it  in  my  pocket, 
and  was  equally  surprised  to  find  that  the  money  in  my 
trousers'  pockets  was  also  untouched.  The  watch  had, 
of  course,  stopped.  I  first  of  all  went  down  to  the  water 
and  had  a  good  wash;  then  I  proceeded  to  the  town,  and, 
going  to  a  hotel,  ordered  breakfast." 

"  Why,  I  thought  you  said  that  you  had  had  nothing  to 
eat,  Mark." 

"  Yes?  Well,  I  had  forgotten  all  about  that  breakfast. 
The  people  looked  a  good  deal  surprised  at  an  English- 
man walking  in  in  that  way.  While  I  was  eating  my 
breakfast  two  men — who  were,  I  suppose,  authorities  of 
some  kind — who  spoke  English,  came  and  questioned  me. 
As  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  say  nothing  more  about  the 
affair,  I  merely  told  them  that  I  had  come  for  a  sail  from 
Amsterdam,  and  that  I  wanted  a  carriage  to  take  me 
back.  They  were  evidently  astonished  at  my  choosing  a 
dark  night  for  such  a  trip,  but  I  said  that  I  had  some 
curiosity  to  see  how  the  boatmen  navigated  their  vessel 
when  there  were  no  lighthouses  or  anything  to  steer  by. 
They  asked  a  few  more  questions,  and  then  went  away, 
evidently  thinking  that  I  was  a  little  mad.     However, 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  303 

they  must  have  spoken  to  the  landlord,  who  in  a  short 
time  made  signs  that  the  carriage  was  at  the  door. 

"  I  had  avoided  asking  the  men  either  the  name  of  the 
place  or  how  far  it  was  from  any  big  town,  because  that 
would  have  made  the  whole  affair  more  singular.  It  was 
a  quarter-past  eight  when  I  started,  and  beyond  the  fact 
that  I  know  by  the  sun  we  came  pretty  nearly  due  east, 
I  have  not  the  slightest  idea  of  the  road.  The  coachman 
could  not  speak  a  word  of  English.  I  should  say  we 
came  about  seven  miles  an  hour,  and  stopped  once  to  bait 
the  horses,  so  I  suppose  that  I  must  have  been  between 
four  and  five  miles  from  Rotterdam  when  I  landed." 

Lunch  had  by  this  time  been  laid  on  the  table,  and  at 
Dick's  invitation  the  Lieutenant  joined  them. 

"  It  is  an  extraordinary  story!  "  he  said.  "  That  your 
life  should  have  been  spared  is  altogether  beyond  my 
comprehension,  still  more  so  why  they  should  have  left 
you  your  money  and  watch." 

"  The  whole  story  is  extraordinary,"  Dick  Chetwynd 
said;  "  for  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  those 
fellows,  or  at  least  one  or  two  of  them,  have  been  patiently 
watching  for  a  chance  of  carrying  off  those  diamonds  for 
twenty  years.  When  my  friend  told  me  of  it  ten  days 
ago  I  did  not  believe  that  it  could  be  possible;  but  he  has 
certainly  shown  that  he  was  correct  in  his  opinion." 

Mark  then  related  the  history  of  the  jewels,  surprising 
the  pugilists  and  detectives  as  much  as  the  Lieutenant. 

"  It  is  extraordinary  indeed,"  the  latter  said.  "  I 
should  not  have  believed  it  possible  that  men  would  de- 
vote so  many  years  to  such  a  purpose,  nor  that  they  could 
have  succeeded  in  tracing  the  diamonds  in  spite  of  the 
precaution  taken  by  your  uncle,  and  afterwards  by  your- 
self. It  would  seem  that  from  the  time  he  landed  in 
England  he,  and  after  him  your  father  and  yourself,  must 
have  been  watched  almost  night  and  day.  I  can  under- 
stand now  why  they  did  not  take  your  watch  and  money. 
They  evidently  acted  from  a  sort  of  religious  enthusiasm, 
and  were  no  ordinary  thieves,  but  as  evidently  they  did 
not  hesitate  to  kill,  I  cannot  understand  why  they  should 
have  added  to  their  risks  by  sparing  you." 

"  No,  that  is  what  puzzles  me,"  Mark  agreed.     "  I  was 


304  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.' 

thinking  it  over  while  we  were  driving  here.  Now  let  me 
hear  about  the  fight,  Dick.  How  did  you  all  come  out 
of  it?" 

"  As  well  as  could  be  expected.  Gibbons  and  Tring 
both  got  some  heavjr  blows  with  the  cudgels,  as  indeed 
we  all  did  more  or  less,  but  they  did  great  execution. 
Eleven  fellows  were  left  senseless  on,  the  ground,  and  one 
of  them,  that  black  fellow  who  came  over  with  us,  was 
killed.  The  other  ten  are  all  in  prison.  All  of  us  did 
our  best,  and  managed  to  leave  our  mark  on  eight  others, 
who  were  in  consequence  picked  out,  and  are  also  in 
jail." 

Dick  went  on  to  relate  the  particulars  of  the  search. 

"  You  see,  our  friend  here  had  traced  you  to  the  barge 
and  found  out  her  destination,  and  if  you  had  come  ten 
minutes  later  you  would  have  found  that  we  had  all  just 
started  for  Eotterdam.  I  was  only  waiting  for  Chester 
and  Malcolm  to  return  to  set  out.  I  am  sorry,  Mark, 
that  you  have  lost  your  diamonds;  not  so  much  because 
they  are  gone,  for  I  can  well  understand  you  to  be 
thoroughly  glad  to  be  rid  of  such  dangerous  articles,  but 
because  they  have  carried  them  off  in  our  teeth,  after  we 
have  been  specially  retained  to  protect  you.  I  certainly 
thought  that  with  such  a  bodyguard  you  were  absolutely 
safe  from  any  number  of  Hindoos." 

"  Yes,  we  made  a  regular  mess  of  it,  Mr.  Thorndyke," 
Gibbons  said.  "  I  never  felt  so  certain  -of  winning  a 
battle  as  I  did  that  you  would  not  be  touched  as  long  as 
we  were  looking  after  you.  Tring  and  I,  if  we  had  been 
asked,  would  have  said  that  we  could  each  have  taken  on 
a  dozen  foreigners  easily.  Mr.  Chetwynd  is  handy  with 
his  fists  too,  though  he  hasn't  your  weight  and  reach,  and 
your  two  other  friends  are  both  pretty  well  accustomed  to 
deal  with  rough  customers.  As  for  Tring  and  me,  it 
makes  one  feel  small  to  know  that  we  have  been  bested 
by  a  handful  of  niggers,  or  Hindoos,  or  whatever  the 
chaps  are,  whom  a  good-sized  boy  of  twelve  ought  to  be 
able  to  polish  off." 

"  Now,  Mark,  what  is  to  be  done  next?  "  Dick  Chetwynd 
asked. 

"  The  next  thing  will  be  to  get  back  as  soon  as  we  can, 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE '8  SECRET.  305 

Dick.  I,  for  one,  have  had  enough  of  Holland  to  last  me 
for  a  lifetime." 

"  I  am  afraid,  gentlemen,"  the  Lieutenant  said,  "  you 
will  have  to  wait  a  day  or  two  before  you  can  leave.  I 
have  nineteen  men  in  prison,  and  there  will  be  a  meeting 
of  magistrates  this  afternoon.  Now  you  have  come  back, 
Mr.  Thorndyke,  the  charge  against  them  won't  be  as 
serious  as  it  would  have  been  before,  but  they  are  guilty 
of  a  desperate  and  premeditated  assault  upon  six  passen- 
gers on  their  arrival  here;  they  have  already  admitted 
that  they  were  paid  for  their  work;  and  as  among  them 
are  some  of  the  worst  characters  in  the  city,  you  may  be 
sure  that  now  we  have  got  them  fairly  in  our  hands  we 
shall  not  let  them  go.  It  is  so  simple  an  affair  that  the 
investigation  ought  not  to  take  long,  but  we  shall  want 
to  find  out,  if  we  can,  who  acted  as  the  intermediary  be- 
tween the  Hindoos  and  the  prisoners.  I  should  think 
that  two  meetings  ought  to  be  sufficient  for  the  present, 
but  I  am  afraid  that  there  may  then  be  a  long  remand, 
and  that  you  will  either  have  to  remain  here  or  to  come 
over  again." 

"  It  would  be  a  horrible  nuisance,"  Dick  said;  "  still  it 
would  be  better  to  come  back  again  than  to  wait  here 
indefinitely,  and  anyhow  I  don't  suppose  it  would  be 
necessary  for  all  of  us  to  come  back  again." 

"  I  should  not  mind  if  it  could  be  arranged  for  me  to 
be  here  again  in  a  month's  time,"  Mark  agreed,  "  for,  to 
tell  you  the  truth,  I  am  going  to  be  married  in  less  than 
three  weeks,  and  as  I  had  intended  to  come  to  Brussels, 
and  afterwards  to  travel  for  a  while,  I  could  make  a  visit 
here  without  greatly  putting  myself  out." 

"  I  will  try  and  arrange  that,  Mr.  Thorndyke." 

"  I  shall  be  glad,"  Mark  said,  "  if  you  can  manage  to 
•get  the  men  sentenced  without  going  into  the  question 
•  of  the  diamonds  at  all,  and  treat  the  matter  as  a  mere 
attempt  at  robbery.  It  surely  would  not  be  necessary  to 
bring  the  question  of  my  being  carried  away  into  the 
matter  at  all;  I  can  give  evidence  that  I  was  knocked 
flown  and  stunned,  and  that  I  was  robbed  of  some  jewels 
that  I  had  about  me,  which  were  the  object  of  the  attack." 

"  I  think  we  should  have  to  admit  that,"  the  J-»«u- 


306  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

tenant  said;  "  it  must  come  out  that  the  attack  was  an 
organized  one." 

"  Well,  if  it  must,  it  must,"  Mark  said  reluctantly; 
"  but  then,  you  see,  no  end  of  questions  would  be  asked, 
and  the  thing  might  be  dela}^ed  while  a  search  is  being 
made  for  the  men  who  stole  the  bracelet." 

"  Well,  we  will  keep  it  out  of  the  inquiry  if  we  can," 
the  Lieutenant  said.  "  The  meeting  will  be  at  three 
o'clock.  I  will  send  a  ma;  to  take  you  to  the  Town 
Hall." 

At  the  appointed  hour  the  party  proceeded  to  the 
court,  and  the  eighteen  prisoners,  under  a  strong  guard, 
having  been  brought  in,  six  magistrates  took  their  places 
■z>n  the  bench;  the  rest  of  the  court  was  crowded,  the 
fray  on  the  wharf  and  the  number  of  captures  having 
created  quite  a  stir  in  the  city.  They  had  arranged  that 
Tring  should  first  give  his  evidence,  which  he  did,  the 
Lieutenant  of  the  watch  acting  as  interpreter,  though 
most  of  the  magistrates  understood  English.  The  ap- 
pearance of  the  prisoners  created  quite  a  sensation  in  the 
court,  for  the  injuries  that  they  had  received  were  now 
even  more  conspicuous  than  they  had  been  when  they 
were  first  captured;  some  of  them  had  to  be  led  into 
court,  their  eyes  being  completely  closed,  others  had  their 
heads  bandaged,  and  all  showed  signs  of  tremendous 
punishment.  Tring  related  that  he,  with  five  others,  had 
come  ashore  together;  one  of  his  companions  had  a  row 
on  board  a  ship  they  had  crossed  in,  with  a  Lascar  sailor, 
who  was  a  passenger,  and  they  kept  together  as  they  were 
crossing  the  wharf,  thinking  that  possibly  the  man  might 
attempt  to  stab  his  companion. 

"  I  was  walking  behind  him,"  Tring  went  on,  "  when 
the  Lascar  jumped  suddenly  out  from  among  the  men 
standing  about,  and  was  about  to  stab  my  companion, 
when  I  hit  him  just  in  time,  and  he  went  down;  then 
there  was  a  rush,  and  we  all  got  separated,  and  did  as 
well  as  we  could  until  the  watch  came  up;  that  is  all  that 
I  know  about  it." 

"Is  the  Lascar  among  the  prisoners?"  one  of  the 
magistrates  asked  the  Lieutenant  of  the  watch. 

"  No,  sir,  when  picked  up  by  one  of  my  men  he  was1 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  307 

found  to  be  dead;  the  blow  had  apparently  killed  him 
instantly." 

The  other  five  then  gave  their  evidence;  it  was  similar 
to  that  of  Tring,  save  that  being  in  front  of  him  they 
knew  nothing  of  the  attack  by  the  Lascar.  All  they 
knew  about  it  was  that  there  was  a  sudden  rush  upon 
them  by  a  number  of  men  armed  with  bludgeons,  that 
they  were  separated,  and  that  each  defended  himself  until 
the  guard  came  up. 

Some  of  the  watch  then  gave  evidence,  and  told  how 
on  arriving  at  the  spot  eleven  of  the  prisoners  were  found 
lying  senseless;  how,  on  recovering,  they  were  all  taken 
to  the  watch-house,  where  several  of  them  were  recog- 
nized as  notoriously  bad  characters;  they  had  admitted 
that  they  were  paid  to  make  the  attack,  which  was  ap- 
parently the  result  of  the  private  enmity  of  some  person 
or  persons  unknown  to  one  or  more  of  those  attacked. 

The  Lieutenant  then  related  the  steps  that  he  had 
taken  to  capture  others  connected  with  the  attack,  and 
that  he  found  eight  men  bearing  marks  of  the  fray,  and 
that  all  these  were  also  notorious  characters,  and  associ- 
ates of  the  prisoners  first  taken.  The  first  witnesses  were 
again  questioned;  five  of  them  said  that,  so  far  as  they 
knew,  they  had  no  personal  enemies.  Mark,  who  was  the 
last  to  get  into  the  witness-box,  said  that  he  himself  had 
no  enemies,  but  that  an  uncle  of  his,  who  was  in  the 
British  Indian  service,  had  a  sort  of  feud  with  some  mem- 
bers of  a  sect  there  on  account  of  some  jewels  that  he 
had  purchased,  and  which  had,  they  declared,  been  stolen 
from  a  temple.  Two  soldiers  through  whose  hands  these 
things  had  passed,  had  been  successively  killed  by  them, 
and  his  uncle  had  to  the  day  of  his  death  believed  that 
their  vengeance  would  one  day  fall  upon  him. 

"  I  can  only  suppose,"  continued  Mark,  "  that  I  have 
inherited  the  enmity  they  bore  him,  as  I  inherited  the 
jewels,  and  that  the  attack  was  really  designed  solely 
against  me,  and  the  consequences  might  have  been  fatal 
to  me  had  it  not  been  for  the  strength  and  courage  of 
my  fellow  passengers." 

"  Did  they  come  with  you  for  your  protection,  Mr. 
Thorn  dyke?  " 


308  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

"  To  some  extent,  yes.  The  fact  is,  that  I  have  for 
some  time  been  convinced  that  I  was  followed  about  by 
natives  of  India,  and  remembering  what  my  uncle  had. 
said  on  the  subject,  I  became  to  some  degree  apprehen- 
sive, and  thought  it  as  well  to  leave  London  for  a  short 
time.  That  this  attack  was  really  instigated  by  the  men 
I  have  no  doubt  whatever,  since,  as  you  have  heard,  it 
was  begun  by  a  Lascar,  who  tried  to  stab  one  of  my 
companions  and  who  received  a  knockdown  blow  that 
caused  his  death  from  one  of  the  others.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  these  people  will  cherish  for  many  years 
a  determination  to  avenge  any  injury.  However,  I  hope 
that  after  the  failure  of  this  attempt  upon  my  life  I  shall 
hear  no  more  of  them." 

"  Were  any  knives  found  on  the  prisoners  ?  "  the  magis- 
trates asked  the  Lieutenant  of  the  watch. 

"No,  sir;  all  carried  clubs.  And  they  told  me  that 
they  had  been  especially  ordered  not  to  take  knives,  and 
had  indeed  been  searched  before  they  came  out." 

"  What  impression  do  you  gather  from  that,  Mr. 
Thorndyke?" 

"  My  impression  is,  sir,  that  they  desired  to  overpower 
those  with  me  and  to  beat  them  down,  in  order  to  carry 
out  their  revenge  upon  me." 

•     After  some  consultation  the  magistrate  who  had  before 
spoken  said: 

"  The  prisoners  will  be  remanded.  It  is  necessary  that 
we  should  find  out  who  was  the  chief  culprit  who  bribed 
this  gang." 

As  soon  as  the  prisoners  were  taken  out  of  court  Mark 
slipped  across  to  the  magistrates,  accompanied  by  the 
Lieutenant  as  interpreter. 

"  I  hope,  gentlemen,  that  our  presence  here  will  not 
be  necessary,  for  it  would  be  a  matter  of  extreme  incon- 
venience. I  may  say  that  my  marriage  is  fixed  for  to-day 
three  weeks,  hence  you  can  well  imagine  that  I  want  to 
return  as  soon  as  possible.  Two  of  the  men  are,  as  you 
Diave  heard,  Bow  Street  officers,  whose  preserve  could  not 
well  be  spared." 

The  magistrates  again  consulted  together. 

"Your  evidence  has  all  been  taken  down  by  the  clerk 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  309 

of  the  court.  Certainly  we  should  not  require  your 
presence  at  the  remand;  but  whether  we  should  do  so  at 
the  trial  would,  of  course,  depend  upon  whether  these 
men  all  own  their  guilt,  which,  having  been  taken  red- 
handed,  it  is  likely  enough  they  will  do.  We  will  consent, 
therefore,  to  your  leaving,  if  you  will  give  us  an  under- 
taking to  return  for  the  trial  if  your  presence  is  necessary, 
and  that  you  will  bring  with  you  the  man  who  struck 
down  the  Lascar  who  commenced  the  fray,  and  one  of 
the  others." 

"  That  I  will  do  willingly,"  Mark  replied.  "  We  are 
much  obliged  to  you  for  your  consideration.  I  shall  be 
traveling  for  a  time  after  my  marriage;  but  I  will  as  I 
pass  through  Belgium  after  my  marriage  give  you  the 
route  I  intend  to  take  and  the  address  at  which  letters 
will  find  me,  and  if  you  send  me  a  sufficiently  long  notice 
I  will  at  once  return  for  the  trial." 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

"  You  managed  that  very  well,  Mark,"  Dick  said. 
"  You  kept  well  within  the  limits  of  truth  without  bring- 
ing the  real  facts  of  the  attack  upon  us  into  the  case." 

"  Well,  you  see,  Dick,  after  working  as  a  detective,  one 
gets  into  the  way  of  telling  stories  with  the  smallest 
amount  of  deviation  possible  from  the  truth.  What  will 
these  fellows  get  done  to  them,  Lieutenant?" 

"  I  should  say  that  they  will  get  two  or  three  years' 
imprisonment;  the  only  charge  now  is  rioting  and  assault. 
It  is  lucky  for  them  that  they  had  clubs  instead  of  knives, 
for  that  would  have  brought  the  matter  under  the  head 
of  attempted  murder.  The  matter  of  the  gems  was  not 
important  in  the  case,  but  there  is  sure  to  be  a  great  fuss 
and  search  for  the  missing  Indians.  I  suppose  you  will 
soon  be  off  home  now?  " 

"  Yes,  I  shall  find  out  to-night  what  vessel  leaves  for 
England  to-morrow,  and  take  a  berth  in  the  first  that 
sails  for  London.  It  is  too  late  to  think  of  starting  this 
evening,  and  indeed  I  feel  that  I  want  a  long  night's  rest, 
for  I  did  not  sleep  much  last  night,  and  have  not  quite 
recovered  from  that  crack  on  my  head." 

On  his  return  to  the  hotel  Mark  sent  out  a  man  to 
inquire  at  the  shipping  offices,  and  finding  that  a  bark 
would  sail  at  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning,  they  went 
down  and  took  berths,  and  sailed  in  her  next  day.  The 
voyage  home  was  a  rapid  one,  for  the  wind  blew  steadily 
from  the  east,  and  the  vessel  made  the  passage  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river  in  two  days,  and  the  next  took  them 
up  to  London. 

"  I  will  call  round  to-morrow  or  next  day,  Gibbons,, 
with  the  checks  for  you  both,"  Mark  said  as  he  prepared 
"to  go  ashore. 

"  No,  sir.  We  are  both  of  one  mind  that  we  could 
not  take   them.     We  went   over  to  prevent  you  being 

si? 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  311 

robbed  of  those  sparklers,  and  to  see  that  you  came  to 
no  harm.  Well,  the  things  are  lost,  and  you  got  knocked 
down  and  carried  away.  It  is  no  thanks  to  us  that  you 
are  alive  now.  It  is  a  mortifying  job,  that  with  two 
detectives  to  watch  over  things  and  with  us  to  fight  we 
should  have  been  fairly  beat  by  a  few  black  niggers." 

"  If  there  had  been  any  bungling  on  your  part,  Gibbons, 
there  might  be  something  in  what  you  say,  but  no  one 
could  have  foreseen  that  before  we  had  been  on  shore  two 
minutes  we  should  have  been  attacked  in  that  way.  You 
both  did  all  that  men  could  do,  as  was  shown  by  the 
condition  of  the  fellows  who  were  taken.  I  was  just  as 
much  separated  from  you  as  you  were  from  me,  and  the 
fact  that  we  were  surprised  as  we  were  is  really  due  to 
my  not  determining  to  stay  on  board  until  the  morning, 
which  I  could  no  doubt  have  done  with  the  captain's 
permission.  It  never  struck  me  for  a  moment  that  we 
should  be  attacked  in  force.  I  thought  it  probable  that 
an  attempt  at  assassination  would  be  made,  but  it  cer- 
tainly did  not  seem  probable  that  it  would  be  attempted 
while  you  were  all  with  me.  You  are  not  in  the  slightest 
degree  to  blame'  for  your  part  of  the  agreement  was 
carried  out  to  my  satisfaction.  I  shall  certainly  carry  out 
mine,  as  I  have  arrived  home  safe  and  sound." 

"  Well,  governor,  it  is  very  good  of  you;  but  I  tell 
you  it  will  go  against  the  grain  for  us  to  take  your 
money." 

On  landing,  Mark  parted  with  Dick  Chetwynd,  who  had 
arranged  to  drop  Mark's  bag  at  his  lodgings  on  his  way 
home,  and  at  once  took  a  hackney  coach  to  Islington. 
Millicent  gave  a  cry  of  delight  as  he  entered  the  room. 

"  You  are  back  earlier  than  I  expected,  Mark.  You 
told  me  before  you  started  that  the  wind  was  in  the  east, 
and  that  you  might  be  a  long  time  getting  to  Amsterdam 
unless  it  changed.  I  have  been  watching  the  vane  on  the 
church,  and  it  has  been  pointing  east  ever  since.  Well, 
you  have  sold  the  diamonds,  I  hope?"  she  said,  after  the 
first  greeting  was  over. 

"  No;  I  have  bad  news  for  you,  Millicent;  the  jewels 
have  been  stolen." 

"  Well  it  does  not  make  much  difference,  Mark.     We 


312  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

have  much  more  than  enough  without  them,  so  don't 
bother  yourself  in  the  least.     How  did  it  happen?  " 

"  Well,  it  is  rather  a  long  story.  I  will  tell  it  you 
when  Mrs.  Cunningham  is  here,  so  as  not  to  have  to  go 
over  it  twice.     How  are  the  dresses  getting  on?  " 

"  I  suppose  they  are  getting  on  all  right,"  she  said. 
"I  have  done  nothing  for  the  last  two  days  but  try  them 
on.  You  see,  we  put  them  out  to  three  milliners,  and 
the}''  all  three  seem  to  reach  the  same  point  together, 
and  I  start  after  breakfast,  and  it  takes  about  two  hours 
at  each  place.  You  don't  know  what  trouble  you  have 
given  me  by  hurrying  things  on  so  unreasonably." 

"  Well,  it  is  better  to  have  it  all  done  and  over,"  he 
said,  "  than  to  have  the  thing  hanging  over  you  for  a 
couple  of  months." 

"  That  is  what  Mrs.  Cunningham  says.  Now  I  want 
to  hear  about  your  adventures,  and  I  will  call  her  down. 
Only  think,  Mrs.  Cunningham,"  Millicent  said  presently, 
with  a  laugh,  after  she  had  returned  with  -her,  "  this 
silly  boy  has  actually  let  the  diamonds  be  stolen  from 
him." 

"No,  really,  Millicent!" 

"  Yes,  indeed.  Fancy  his  not  being  fit  to  be  trusted  to 
look  after  them!  However,  I  tell  him  it  is  of  no  con- 
sequence. I  don't  know  how  they  went.  He  would  not 
tell  me  the  story  until  you  came  down." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  it  is  true,  Mrs.  Cunningham, 
although  I  can  assure  you  that  I  really  cannot  blame 
myself  for  either  carelessness  or  stupidity.  I  knew  when 
I  started  that  there  was  a  very  great  risk,  and  took  what 
seemed  to  me  every  possible  precaution,  for  in  addition 
to  Dick  Chetwynd  going  with  me,  I  took  two  detectives 
from  Bow  Street  and  two  prizefighters." 

Exclamations  of  surprise  broke  from  both  ladies. 

"  And  yet,  in  spite  of  all  that,  these  things  were  stolen," 
Millicent  said.  "How  on  earth  did  they  do  it?  I 
should  have  sewn  them  up  in  my  pockets  inside  my 
dress." 

"  I  sewed  them  up  in  the  waistband  of  my  trousers, 
Millicent,  and  yet  they  managed,  in  spite  of  us,  to  steal 
them.     And  now  I  must  begin  by  telling  you  the  whole 


COLONEL  THORKDTKE'S  SECRET.  313 

history  of  those  diamonds,  and  you  will  understand  why 
I  thought  it  necessary  to  take  a  strong  party  with  me." 

He  then  told  them,  repeating  the  history  the  Colonel 
had  given  his  father  of  the  diamonds,  and  the  conviction 
that  he  had,  that  he  had  heen  followed  hy  Hindoos,  and 
the  instructions  he  had  given  for  the  disposal  of  the 
bracelet. 

"  As  you  know,"  he  said,  "  nothing  happened  to  con- 
firm my  uncle's  belief  that  there  were  men  over  here  in. 
search  of  the  diamonds  during  my  father's  life,  but  since 
then  I  have  come  to  the  same  conclusion  that  he  had,  and. 
felt  positive  that  I  was  being  constantly  followed  wher- 
ever I  went.  As  soon  as  I  heard  where  the  treasure  was 
I  began  to  take  every  precaution  in  my  power.  I  avoided 
going  to  the  bank  after  my  first  visit  there,  and,  as  you 
know,  would  not  bring  the  things  for  you  to  look  at.  I 
got  Dick  Chetwynd  to  go  there,  open  the  case,  and  take 
out  these  diamonds.  He  did  not  bring  them  away  with 
him,  but  fetched  them  from  there  the  morning  we 
started.  He  went  down  and  took  the  passage  for  us  both 
at  the  shipping  office,  and  the  pugilists  and  the  detectives 
each  took  passages  for  themselves,  so  that  I  hoped,  how- 
ever closely  I  was  followed,  they  would  not  learn  that  I 
was  taking  them  to  Amsterdam." 

"  It  was  very  wrong,  Mark;  very  wrong  indeed,"  Milli- 
cent  broke  in.  "  You  had  no  right  to  run  such  a  terrible 
risk;  it  would  have  been  better  for  you  to  have  taken  the 
diamonds  and  thrown  them  into  the  Thames." 

"  That  would  not  have  improved  matters,"  he  said; 
"  the  Indians  would  not  have  known  that  I  had  got  rid 
of  them,  and  would  have  continued  their  efforts  to  find 
them,  and  I  should  always  have  been  in  danger  instead 
of  getting  it  over  once  for  all.  However,  I  did  not  think 
that  there  was  any  danger,  going  over  as  I  did,  with 
two  of  the  best  prizefighters  in  England,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  detectives,  who  were  the  men  who  were  with  me 
when  I  caught  Bastow.  The  only  danger  was  that  I 
might  be  stabbed;  but,  as  'they  would  know,  it  was  no  use 
their  stabbing  me  unless"  they  could  search  me  quietly, 
and  that  they  could  notj  do  unless  I  was  alone  and  in 
some  lonely  neighborhood;  and  I  had  made  up  my  mind 


314  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

not  to  stir  out  unless  the  whole  party  were  with  me.  I 
found  out  when  we  got  on  board  that,  in  spite  of  all  the 
precautions  I  had  taken,  they  had  discovered  that  I  was 
going  to  sail  for  Amsterdam,  which  they  could  only  have 
done  by  following  Dick  as  well  as  myself.  There  was 
a  dark-faced  foreign  sailor,  who,  I  had  no  doubt,  was  a 
Hindoo,  already  on  board,  and  I  saw  another  in  a  boat 
watching  us  start;  this  was  unpleasant,  but  as  I  felt  sure 
that  they  could  not  have  known  that  I  had  with  me 
detectives  and  pugilists,  I  still  felt  that  they  would  be 
able  to  do  nothing  when  I  got  to  Amsterdam." 

Then  he  told  them  the  whole  story  of  the  attack,  of 
his  being  carried  away,  and  of  his  unexpected  release;  of 
the  search  that  had  been  made  for  him,  and  the  arrest 
of  eighteen  of  his  assailants. 

Millicent  grew  pale  as  he  continued,  and  burst  into 
tears  when  she  heard  of  his  being  a  prisoner  in  the  hands 
of  the  Hindoos. 

"  I  shall  never  let  you  go  out  of  my  sight  again,  Mark!  " 
she  exclaimed  when  he  had  finished.  "  It  was  bad 
enough  before  When  you  were  searching  for  that  man 
here,  and  I  used  to  be  terribly  anxious;  but  that  was 
nothing  to  this." 

"  Well,  there  is  an  end  of  it  now,  Millicent;  the  men 
have  got  the  diamonds,  and  will  soon  be  on  their  way  to 
India,  if  they  have  not  started  already." 

"  Nasty  things!  "  she  said;  "  I  shall  never  like  diamonds 
again:  they  will  always  remind  me  of  the  terrible  danger 
that  you  have  run.  Isn't  it  extraordinary  that  for 
twenty  years  four  or  five  men  should  be  spending  their 
lives  waiting  for  a  chance  of  getting  them  back!  " 

"  I  do  not  expect  there  were  so  many  as  that;  probably 
there  was  only  one.  He  would  have  no  difficulty  in 
learning  that  my  father  had  not  received  any  extraor- 
dinary gems  from  my  uncle,  and  probably  supposed 
that  they  would  not  be  taken  out  from  wherever  they 
might  be  until  you  came  of  age.  After  the  death  of  my 
father  he  might  suppose  that  I  should  take  them  out,  or 
that,  at  any  rate,  I  should  go  to  whoever  had  them,  and 
see  that  they  were  all  right,  and  he  then,  perhaps,  engaged 
half  a  dozen  Lascars — there  "are  plenty  of  them  at  the 


COLONEL   THOBNDYKE'S  SECRET.  315 

docks — and  had  me  watched  wherever  I  went;  and,  do 
you  know,  that  I  believe  I  once  owed  my  life  to  them." 

"  How  was  that,  Mark?  " 

"Well,  I  was  captured  by  some  fellows  who  suspected 
me  to  be  a  Bow  Street  runner;,  and  I  think  that  it  would 
have  gone  very  hard  with  me  if  a  party  of  five  or  six 
prizefighters  had  not  broken  into  the  house,  pretty 
nearly  killed  the  men  in  whose  hands  I  was,  and  rescued 
me.  They  said  that  they  had  heard  of  my  danger  from 
a  foreign  sailor  who  called  at  Gibbons',  with  whom  I  was 
in  the  habit  of  boxing,  and  told  him  about  it.  You  see, 
until  they  learned  where  the  jewels  were,  my  life  was 
valuable  to  them,  for  possibly  I  was  the  only  person  who 
knew  where  they  were  hidden;  so  really  I  don't  think  I 
have  any  reason  for  bearing  a  grudge  against  them. 
They  saved  my  life  in  the  first  place,  and  spared  it  at 
what  was  a  distinct  risk  to  themselves.  On  the  other 
hand,  they  were  content  with  regaining  the  bracelet,  not 
even,  as  I  told  you,  taking  my  watch  or  purse.  You  see, 
with  them  it  was  a  matter  of  religion.  They  had  no 
animosity  against  me  personally,  but  I  have  no  doubt 
they  would  have  stabbed  me  without  the  slightest  com- 
punction had  there  been  no  other  way  of  getting  the 
things.  Still,  I  think  that  I  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to 
them  rather  than  the  reverse,  and,  after  all,  the  loss  of 
the  bracelet  is  not  a  serious  one  to  us." 

"  I  am  glad  it  is  gone,"  Millicent  said.  "  You  say  it 
had  already  caused  the  death  of  two  men,  and  if  you  had 
succeeded  in  selling  it  I  can't  help  thinking  that  the 
money  would  have  brought  ill-fortune  to  us.  I  am 
heartily  glad  that  the  diamonds  are  gone,  Mark.  I  sup- 
pose they  were  very  handsome?  " 

"  They  were  magnificent,"  he  said.  "  Dick  and  Cotter 
both  agreed  that  they  had  never  seen  their  equal,  and  I 
fancy  that  they  must  have  been  worth  a  great  deal  more 
than  your  father  valued  them  at." 

"  Well,  it  does  not  matter  at  ail.  There  is  no  history 
attached  to  the  others,  I  hope,  Mark?  " 

"  Not  in  any  way,  dear.  They  were  bought,  as  the 
Colonel  told  my  father,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things, 
and  some,  no  doubt,  were  obtained  at  the  capture  of  some 


316  COLONEL   THORNDYKE' 8  SECRET. 

of  the  native  princes'  treasuries;  but  it  was  solely  on 
account  of  this  bracelet  that  he  had  any  anxiety.  You 
can  wear  all  the  others,  if  you  have  a  fancy  for  keeping 
them,  without  a  shadow  of  risk." 

"  No,  Mark,  we  will  sell  them  every  one.  I  don't  think 
that  I  shall  ever  care  to  wear  any  jewels  again;  and  if  I 
am  ever  presented  at  court  and  have  to  do  so,  I  would 
rather  that  you  should  buy  some  new  ones  fresh  from  a 
jeweler's  shop  than  wear  anything  that  has  come  from 
India." 

"  To-morrow  you  shall  both  go  to  the  bank  with  me  to 
see  them,  and  then  I  will  take  them  to  some  first-class 
jeweler's  and  get  him  to  value  them." 

The  visit  was  paid  next  day.  Both  Millicent  and  Mrs. 
Cunningham  were  somewhat  disappointed  at  the  jewels. 

"  It  is  hardly  fair  to  see  them  like  this,"  Philip  Cotter 
said.  "  They  would  look  very  different  if  reset.  No 
Indian  jewels  I  have  ever  seen  show  to  advantage  in  their 
native  settings;  but  many  of  the  stones  are  very  large, 
and  without  knowing  anything  about  them  I  should  say 
that  they  are  worth  the  £50,000  at  which  you  say  Colonel 
Thorndyke  valued  them.  He  was  not  likely  to  be  mis- 
taken. He  was  evidently  a  judge  of  these  matters,  and 
would  hardly  be  likely  to  be  far  wrong." 

"  We  will  go  with  you  to  the  jeweler's,  Mark,"  Millicent 
said.  "  In  the  first  place,  I  shall  not  feel  quite  com- 
fortable until  I  know  that  they  are  out  of  your  hands, 
and  in  the  next  place  I  should  like  to  hear  what  he  thinks 
of  them." 

"  I  have  a  number  of  Indian  jewels  that  I  wish  you  to 
value  for  me,"  Mark  said,  as,  carrying  the  case,  he  entered 
the  jeweler's  shop.  "  They  were  collected  by  Colonel 
Thorndyke,  an  uncle  of  mine,  during  service  in  India." 

The  jeweler  took  them  with  him  into  a  room  behind 
the  shop.  The  case  was  opened,  and  the  man  took  out 
sixty-eight  small  parcels  it  contained,  and  opened  them 
one  after  the  other. 

"  I  shall  need  a  very  careful  examination  of  these  before 
I  can  form  any  estimate  of  their  value,"  he  said,  after 
inspecting  some  of  the  more  important  pieces  of  jewelry 
carefully.     "  They  are  a  most  magnificent  collection,,  and 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET-  317 

had  they  been  properly  cut  in  the  first  place  they  would 
have  been  worth  a  very  large  sum.  Unfortunately,  the 
Indian  princes  think  more  of  size  than  of  lustre,  and  have 
their  stones  cut  very  much  too  flat  to  show  off  their  full 
brilliancy.  Some  of  these  large  ones  I  should  certainly 
advise  to  be  re-cut,  for  what  they  will  lose  in  weight  they 
will  gain  in  beauty  and  value.  However,  sir,  I  will  go 
through  them  and  give  you  an  estimate  of  the  selling 
value  of  each  piece.  I  need  not  say  that  they  ought  all 
to  be  reset  in  the  prevailing  fashion;  but  the  gold,  which 
is  in  some  cases  unnecessarily  massive,  will  go  some  dis- 
tance towards  defraying  the  expense." 

"  When  shall  I  call  again?  "  Mark  asked. 

"  I  should  be  glad  if  you  can  give  me  a  week,"  the 
jeweler  said.  "  Some  of  the  things,  for  instance  that 
great  pearl  necklace,  I  could  appraise  without  much  diffi- 
culty, but  all  the  gems  must  be  taken  out  of  their  settings 
before  I  could  form  a  fair  idea  of  their  value." 

"  Then  I  will  call  in  a  week's  time,"  Mark  said.  "  I  am 
in  no  particular  hurry  about  them,  but  I  would  rather 
that  they  were  in  your  care  than  mine." 

"  Yes,  if  the  cracksmen  got  word  that  there  was  such 
a  collection  as  this  in  any  private  house  it  would  need  a 
couple  of  men  with  pistols  to  keep  guard  over  them." 

A  week  later  Mark  again  called. 

"  I  have  the  list  ready  for  you,  sir;  you  will  see  that 
they  are  not  marked  according  to  their  setting,  but 
according  to  their  size  and  value.  Thus,  you  see,  the 
largest  stones  are  priced  separately;  the  smaller  ones  are 
in  groups  according  to  their  weight.  The  total  comes  to 
£42,000.  I  do  not  know  whether  that  at  all  equals  your 
expectations.  I  may  say  that  I  have  shown  the  stones  to 
two  or  three  of  our  principal  diamond  merchants,  and 
that  the  prices  I  have  put  down  are  those  at  which  they 
would  be  willing  to  buy  them;  possibly  some  would  be 
worth  more.  I  had  the  merchants  here  together,  and 
they  spent  some  hours  going  through  them,  and  the  sums 
put  down  are  those  at  which  one  or  other  were  willing 
to  purchase." 

"  It  quite  answers  my  expectations,"  Mark  said.  "  My 
uncle's  estimate,  indeed,  was  somewhat  higher,  but  doubt- 


318  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  8E0BET. 

less  he  judged  them  at  the  price  which  they  would  fetch 
in  India.  Well,  sir,  I  authorize  you  to  close  with  the 
offers,  and  to  dispose  of  them  for  me.  I  will  give  you  a 
written  authority  to  do  so.  In  the  meantime,  I  wish  to 
buy  a  suite  of  jewels  as  a  wedding  present,  a  tiara,  neck- 
lace, and  bracelets;  but  I  do  not  want  any  diamonds  to 
be  among  them." 

"  I  am  afraid  I  have  nothing  in  stock  without 
diamonds;  of  course,  I  have  both  necklaces  and  bracelets 
of  almost  any  stones  that  you  might  select,  but  I  have  no 
complete  set  without  diamonds;  the  effect  would  be 
somber,  and  few  ladies  would  like  them." 

"  We  have  some  unpleasant  associations  with  dia- 
monds," Mark  said,  "  and  on  that  point  I  am  quite  deter- 
mined; but  if  you  used  pearls  instead  of  diamonds  the 
effect  might  be  as  good.  I  don't  care  whether  the  stones 
are  emeralds  or  rubies;  at  any  rate,  I  should  like  to  see 
some,  and  then  perhaps  you  might  be  able  to  make  me  a 
Bet  on  the  same  model." 

Several  superb  sets  were  brought  in;  Mark  selected  one 
of  emeralds  and  diamonds. 

"  What  would  be  the  price  of  this  set?  "  he  asked. 

"  That  set  is  £6000,  sir;  the  stones  are  exceptionally 
fine  ones;  but  if  you  substituted  pearls  of  equal  size  for 
the  diamonds,  it  would  cost  considerably  less;  I  could 
not  give  you  the  exact  price  until  it  is  made,  but  I  should 
say  that  it  would  be  about  £4500." 

"  Very  well,  then,  I  will  take  that.  How  long  will  it  be 
making?  " 

"  I  should  not  like  to  say  less  than  three  months  at 
the  earliest;  it  will  require  some  time  to  collect  as  fine  a 
set  of  emeralds  as  these.  Indeed,  I  think  that  most  prob- 
ably I  shall  use  these  emeralds,  or  the  greater  part  of 
them,  and  collect  others  to  take  their  places  at  my 
leisure.  I  do  not  know  whether  the  best  plan  would  not 
be  to  take  the  diamonds  out  and  substitute  pearls;  there 
would  be  no  difficulty  in  getting  them,  and  in  that  case  I 
might  have  it  ready  for  you  in  a  month." 

"  I  think  that  will  be  the  best  plan;  but  you  need  not 
be  in  any  particular  hurry  about  them.  My  marriage  will 
take  place  in  less  than  a  fortnight,  and  after  that  I  shall 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  319 

probably  be  three  or  four  months  before  I  return  to 
London.  I  will  get  you  to  keep  the  things  until  I  come 
back." 

"  I  have  sold  the  jewels,  Millicent,"  he  said,  when  he 
returned  to  Islington;  "  the  jeweler  has  found  purchasers 
for  them  all,  and  the  total  comes  to  £42,000." 

"  Whatever  shall  we  do  with  all  our  money,  Mark?  " 

"  I  rather  wonder  myself,  dear.  However,  there  is  one 
thing,  there  are  always  plenty  of  people  who  will  be  glad 
to  relieve  us  of  anything  that  we  don't  want.  I  can  tell 
you  that  in  the  course  of  my  search  for  Bastow  I  have 
seen  an  amount  of  poverty  and  misery  such  as  I  never 
dreamt  of,  and  I  certainly  should  like  to  do  something  to 
relieve  it.  The  best  thing  that  I  know  of  would  be  to 
give  a  handsome  sum  to  three  or  four  of  the  great 
hospitals.  I  don't  know  of  any  better  means  of  helping 
the  very  poor." 

"  Suppose,  Mark,"  the  girl  said,  putting  her  hand  on 
his  arm,  "  we  give  this  £42,000  as  a  thank-offering.  We 
never  expected  to  get  it,  and  my  father's  jewels  have 
nearly  cost  you  your  life.  We  have  such  an  abundance 
without  that,  I  should  like,  above  all  things,  to  give  this 
money  away." 

"  I  think  that  is  an  excellent  plan,  Millicent,  and  a 
very  happy  thought  on  your  part.  We  cannot  do  it  now, 
as  we  have  not  yet  got  the  money,  but  as  soon  as  we  do 
we  will  send  off  checks  for  10,000  guineas  each  to  St. 
Bartholomew's,  Guy's,  and  St.  Thomas' — those  are  the 
three  principal  ones;  the  others  we  can  settle  afterwards. 
But  I  should  say  that  the  Foundling  would  be  as  good  as 
any,  and  I  believe  that  they  are  rather  short  of  funds  at 
present;  then  there  is  the  London  Mendicity  Society,  and 
many  other  good  charities.  Perhaps  it  would  be  better 
to  divide  the  whole  among  eight  of  them  instead  of  four; 
but  we  need  not  settle  that  until  we  return." 

Do  you  think  we  shall   have  to  go   to  this   horrid 
Amsterdam,  Mark?" 

"  I  hope  not,  dear;  but  I  shall  no  doubt  hear  from  the 
Lieutenant  of  the  watch  during  the  next  week  or  ten 
days." 

When  the  letter  came  it  was  satisfactory.     The  pris- 


320^  COLONEL  THORKDYKE'S  SECRET. 

oners,  seeing  the  hopelessness  of  any  defense,  had  all  ad- 
mitted their  guilt,  and  the  name  of  the  man  who  had 
dealt  with  them  had  also  been  given  up.  Except  in  his 
case  there  would  be  no  trial.  The  others  would  have 
sentences  passed  on  them  at  once,  and  three,  who  had 
been  promised  comparatively  slight  punishment,  would  go 
into  the  box  to  give  evidence  against  the  man  who  had 
engaged  them.  Before  starting  for  Holland  Mark  had 
consulted  Millicent  as  to  whether  she  would  prefer  being 
married  in  London  or  at  Crowswood.     She  had  replied: 

"  I  should  greatly  prefer  Crowswood,  Mark.  Here  we 
know  no  one,  there  we  should  be  among  all  our  friends; 
certainly  if  we  don't  go  we  must  get  Mr.  Greg  to  come 
up  and  marry  us  here.  I  am  sure  he  would  feel  very 
disappointed  if  anyone  else  were  asked.  At  the  same 
time  I  should  not  like  to  go  home.  When  we  come  back 
from  our  trip  it  will  be  different;  but  it  would  be  a  great 
trial  now,  and  however  happy  we  might  be,  I  should  feel 
there  was  a  gloom  over  the  house." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you,  Millicent.  When  we  come 
back  we  can  see  about  entirely  refurnishing  it,  and,  per- 
haps, adding  some  rooms  to  it,  and  we  need  not  go  down 
until  a  complete  change  has  been  made.  We  shall  be 
able  to  manage  it  somehow  or  other,  and  I  quite  agree 
with  you  that  anything  will  be  better  than  going  back  to 
the  house  for  a  day  or  two  before  the  wedding." 

On  the  voyage  back  from  Holland  Mark  had  talked  the 
matter  over  with  Dick  Chetwynd,  and  said  that  he 
thought  of  taking  rooms  for  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Milli- 
cent at  Keigate,  and  stopping  at  the  hotel  himself,  and 
having  the  wedding  breakfast  there. 

"  Of  course,  Dick,  you  will  be  my  best  man." 

"  I  should  think  so,"  Dick  laughed.  "  Why,  if  you  had 
asked  anyone  else  I  should  have  made  a  personal  matter 
of  it  with  him,  and  have  given  him  the  option  of  resign- 
ing the  position  or  going  out  with  me.  But  your  other 
plans  are  foolish,  and  I  shall  take  the  matter  into  my 
own  hands;  I  shall  insist  upon  the  two  ladies  coming 
down  to  the  Park,  and  I  will  get  my  aunt  to  come  and 
preside  generally  over  things.  I  shall  fill  up  the  house 
with  bridesmaids,  and  shall  have  a  dance  the  evening 


COLONEL   TIIORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  321 

before.  You  can  put  up  at  the  hotel  if  you  like,  but  you 
know  very  well  that  there  are  a  dozen  houses  where  they 
will  be  delighted  to  have  you;  there  is  no  doubt  that 
when  they  know  what  is  coming  off  you  will  get  a  dozen 
invitations,  and  then  after  church  all  those  invited  will 
drive  off  to  the  Park  to  the  wedding  breakfast.  After 
that  is  over  you  can  start  in  a  post-chaise  to  Canterbury 
or  Dover,  wherever  you  mav  decide  to  make  your  first 
halt." 

"  But,  my  dear  Dick,  I  could  not  put  you  to  all  this 
trouble!" 

"  Nonsense,  man.  I  should  enjoy  it  immensely;  be- 
sides, I  shall  be  really  glad  of  a  good  reason  to  try  and 
open  the  doors  of  the  Park  again.  I  have  been  there 
very  little  since  my  father's  death,  and  I  think  I  shall 
make  it  my  headquarters  in  future.  I  am  getting  rather 
tired  of  bachelor  life  in  London,  and  must  look  out  for  a 
wife;  so  nothing  could  be  more  appropriate  than  this 
idea.  Don't  bother  yourself  any  further  about  it.  I 
shall  ride  down  and  establish  myself  there  to-morrow, 
spend  a  couple  of  days  in  driving  round  to  our  friends 
and  in  sending  out  invitations.  I  shall  still  have  nearly  a 
fortnight  for  making  all  preparations.  Why,  it  will 
cause  quite  an  excitement  in  the  neighborhood!  I  shall 
be  hailed  as  a  benefactor,  and  I  shall  let  everyone  know 
that  your  father's  ward  was  really  your  cousin,  but  that 
by  the  will  of  her  father  she  was  to  drop  her  surname 
until  she  came  of  age;  and  that  until  that  time  your 
father  was  to  have  the  entire  control  of  the  property.  I 
shall  add  that  although  the  estate,  of  course,  is  hers,  your 
uncle  has  left  you  a  very  big  fortune,  and  that  nothing 
could  be  more  suitable  in  all  respects  than  the  marriage." 

"  That  will  do  excellently,  Dick;  that  will  be  quite 
enough,  without  going  into  details  at  all.  You  can 
mention  that  we  intend  to  have  the  house  entirely  refur- 
nished, and  on  the  return  from  our  wedding  trip  abroad 
to  settle  there.  I  am  sure  I  am  extremely  obliged  to  you 
for  your  offer,  which  will  certainly  clear  away  all  sorts 
of  small  difficulties." 

A  day  or  two  after  his  return  Mark  wrote  to  Mr. 
Greg,  telling  him  the  relations  in  which  Millicent  and  he 


322  COLONEL   THORND  TEE'S  SECRET. 

stood  to  each  other,  and  of  the  near  approach  of  their 
marriage.  He  said  that  Millicent  would  be  married  from 
Dick  Chetwynd's,  but  that  it  would  be  at  Crowswood 
church.  In  return  he  received  a  warm  letter  of  congratu- 
lation from  the  Eector,  telling  him  that  the  news  was  in 
every  respect  delightful,  and  that  his  wife  and  the  chil- 
dren were  in  a  state  of  the  highest  excitement,  not  only 
at  the  marriage,  but  at  their  coming  down  to  reside  again 
at  Crowswood. 

"  The  village,"  he  said,  "  will  be  scarcely  less  pleased 
than  I  am,  for  though  everything  goes  on  as  you  ordered, 
and  the  people  get  their  milk,  broths,  and  jellies  as 
before,  they  don't  look  at  it  as  the  same  thing  as  it  was 
in  the  old  days.  I  cannot  say  that  the  news  of  your 
engagement  to  Miss  Conyers — I  ought  to  say  Miss  Thorn- 
dyke — is  surprising,  for  I  had  thought  that  it  would  be 
quite  the  natural  thing  for  you  to  fall  in  love  with  each 
other,  and,  indeed,  my  wife  declares  that  she  saw  it  com- 
ing on  distinctly  during  the  last  few  months  before  you 
left  here.  Your  postscript  saying  that  Bastow  had  been 
captured  and  had  committed  suicide  gave  me  a  distinct 
feeling  of  relief,  for  no  one  could  tell  whether  the  deadly 
enmity  that  he  felt  for  your  father  might  not  extend  to 
you.  I  have  cut  this  note  rather  short,  but  I  have  just 
heard  the  door  shut,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  my  wife 
has  gone  down  to  tell  the  good  news  in  the  village,  and 
I  really  cannot  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  telling  some 
of  the  people  myself,  and  seeing  their  faces  brighten  up 
at  the  news." 

As  Dick  had  foretold  would  be  the  case,  Mark  received 
a  very  warm  letter  from  Sir  Charles  Harris,  congratu- 
lating him  upon  his  approaching  marriage,  and  insisting 
upon  his  taking  up  his  quarters  with  him. 

"  I  am  sending  a  man  down  with  this  to  hand  it  to  the 
guard  as  the  up  coach  goes  through  the  town.  Chetwynd 
told  me  that  his  call  on  me  was  the  first  he  had  paid,  so 
I  feel  fairly  confident  that  I  shall  forestall  the  rest  of 
your  friends,  and  that  you  will  give  me  the  pleasure  of 
your  company." 

Mark  wrote  back  accepting  the  invitation  at  once, 
which  enabled  him  to  decline  half  a  dozen  others  without 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  'SECRET.  323 

the  necessity  of  making  a  choice.  Everything  turned  out 
as  arranged.  Millicent  and  Mrs.  Cunningham  went  down 
in  a  post-chaise,  two  days  before  the  wedding,  and  Maris: 
drove  down  in  his  gig  with  them.  Dick  Chetwynd  met 
them  on  horseback  just  outside  Eeigate,  and  escorted  the 
ladies  to  his  house,  Mark  driving  on  to  that  of  Sir  Charles 
Harris.  Millicent  found  the  house  full  of  her  special 
friends,  whom  she  had  asked  to  be  her  bridesmaids.  She 
was  almost  bewildered  by  the  warmth  of  their  welcome, 
and  overpowered  by  the  questions  poured  upon  her. 

"  The  news  quite  took  all  our  breath  away,  Millicent," 
one  of  them  said.  "  It  seems  extraordinary  that  you 
should  have  been  Miss  Thorndyke  all  the  time,  though  I 
don't  think  that  any  of  us  were  at  all  surprised  that  you 
should  take  the  name  now;  you  must  have  been  surprised 
when  you  heard  that  you  were  the  heiress  of  Crowswood." 

"  I  was  a  great  deal  more  disgusted  than  surprised," 
she  said  rather  indignantly.  "  I  did  not  think  that  it 
was  fair  at  all  that  I  should  step  into  Mark's  shoes." 

"  Well,  it  has  all  come  right  now,  Millicent,  and  I  dare 
say  you  thought  that  it  would,  even  then." 

"  I  can  assure  you  that  I  did  not;  quite  the  contrary, 
I  thought  that  it  never  would  come  right.  I  was  very 
unhappy  about  it  for  a  time." 

"  Now,  young  ladies,"  Dick  Chetwynd  laughed,  "  will 
you  please  take  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  Miss  Thorndyke 
up  to  their  rooms?  I  don't  suppose  I  shall  see  any  more 
of  you  before  dinner-time;  there  are  those  trunks  to  be 
opened  and  examined,  talked  over,  and  admired.  Mind, 
I  have  fifteen  more,  for  the  most  part  men,  coming  to 
dinner,  so  those  of  you  who  aspire  to  follow  Miss  Thorn- 
dyke's  example  had  best  prepare  yourselves  for  conquest." 

The  ball  on  the  following  evening  was  a  great  success. 
Dick  had  determined  that  it  should  be  a  memorable  one, 
and  there  was  a  consensus  of  opinion  that  it  was  the 
most  brilliant  that  had  taken  place  in  that  part  of  the 
country  for  many  years. 

Crowswood  church  and  village  presented  a  most  festive 
appearance  on  the  following  day;  there  was  not  a  cottage 
that  had  not  great  posies  of  flowers  in  its  windows,  and 
that  had  not  made  some  sort  of  attempt  at  decoration 


324  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

with  flags  or  flowers.  A  huge  arch  of  evergreens,  with 
sheaves  of  wheat  and  flowers,  had  been  erected  on  the  top 
of  the  hill,  and  every  man,  woman,  and  child  turned  out 
in  their  best,  and  cheered  lustily,  first,  when  Mark  drove 
up  in  his  gig,  and  equally  lustily  when  the  Chetwynd 
carriage,  drawn  by  four  gray  horses,  dashed  up,  preceded 
by  a  large  number  of  others  with  the  bridesmaids  and 
friends.  The  church  was  already  crowded,  and  Mr.  Greg 
was  visibly  moved  at  seeing  the  son  and  niece  of  the  man 
to  whom  he  owed  his  living  made  man  and  wife.  When 
the  wedding  breakfast,  at  which  more  than  fifty  sat  down, 
and  the  necessary  toasts  were  over,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thorn- 
dyke  started  for  Canterbury. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

It  was  not  until  Easter  that  Mark  Thorndyke  and  his 
wife  returned  to  England.  They  had  spent  the  greater 
portion  of  that  time  in  Italy,  lingering  for  a  month  at 
Venice,  and  had  then  journeyed  quietly  homewards 
through  Bavaria  and  Saxony.  They  were  in  no  hurry,  as 
before  starting  on  their  honeymoon  Mark  had  consulted 
an  architect,  had  told  him  exactly  what  he  wanted,  and 
had  left  the  matter  in  his  hands.  Mrs.  Cunningham  had 
from  time  to  time  kept  them  informed  how  things  were 
going  on.  The  part  of  the  house  in  which  the  Squire's 
room  had  been  situated  was  entirely  pulled  down,  and  a 
new  wing  built  in  its  stead.  Millicent  had  been  specially 
wishful  that  this  should  be  done. 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  am  superstitious,  Mark,"  she  had 
said,  "  but  I  do  think  that  when  a  murder  has  taken  place 
in  a  house  it  is  better  to  make  a  complete  change.  The 
servants  always  think  they  see  or  hear  something.  That 
part  of  the  house  is  avoided,  and  it  is  difficult  to  get 
anyone  to  stay  there.  I  think  it  is  very  much  more 
important  to  do  that  than  it  is  to  get  the  house  refur- 
nished; we  can  do  anything  in  that  way  you  like  when  we 
get  back,  but  I  should  certainly  like  very  much  to  have 
the  great  alteration  made  before  we  return." 

The  architect  was  a  clever  one,  and  the  house,  which 
was  some  two  hundred  years  old,  was  greatly  improved 
in  appearance  by  the  new  wing,  which  was  made  to  har- 
monize well  with  the  rest,  but  was  specially  designed  to 
give  as  much  variety  as  possible  to  the  general  outline. 
Millicent  uttered  an  exclamation  of  pleasure  when  they 
first  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  house.  As  they  rode  through 
the  village  they  were  again  welcomed  as  heartily  as  they 
were  on  their  wedding  day.  Mrs.  Cunningham  received 
them;  she  had  been  established  there  for  a  month,  and 
had  placed  the  house  entirely  on  its  old  footing.     They 

325 


326  COLONEL   THORNDTKE'S  SECRET. 

first  examined  the  new  portion  of  the  house,  and  Millicent 
was  greatly  pleased  with  the  rooms  that  had  been  pre- 
pared for  them,  Mark  having  requested  Mrs.  Cunningham 
to  put  the  furnishing  into  the  hands  of  the  best-known 
firm  of  the  day. 

"  I  have  asked,"  Mrs.  Cunningham  said,  "  the  Rector 
and  his  wife  and  Mr.  Chetwynd  to  dine  with  us  this 
evening;  they  can  scarcely  be  termed  company,  and  I 
thought  that  you  might  find  it  pleasant  to  have  these  old 
friends  here  the  first  evening.  There  is  a  letter  for  you 
on  the  library  table,  Mark;  it  may  almost  be  called,  a 
packet;  it  has  been  here  nearly  a  month." 

In  our  days  a  newly  married  couple  would  find  on  their 
return  from  foreign  travel  basketfuls  of  letters,  circulars, 
and  catalogues  from  tradesmen  of  all  kinds;  happily,  our 
forefathers  were  saved  from  these  inflictions,  and  Mark  at 
once  went  to  the  library  with  almost  a  feeling  of  surprise 
as  to  who  could  have  written  to  him.  He  saw  at  once 
that  it  was  a  ship's  letter,  for  on  the  top  was '  written,, 
"  Favored  by  the  Surinam." 

"  Why,  it  is  Ramoo's  writing.  I  suppose  he  gave  it  to 
someone  he  knew,  and  that  instead  of  its  being  put  in  the 
mail  bag  in  India,  he  brought  it  on  with  him.  What  a 
tremendously  long  epistle!  "  he  exclaimed,  glancing  his 
eye  down  the  first  page,  and  then  a  puzzled  expression 
came  across  his  face;  he  sat  down  and  began  to  read  from 
the  first  slowly  and  carefully. 

"  Honoeed  Sahib:  I  do  not  know  why  I  should  write 
to  tell  you  the  true  history  of  all  these  matters.  I  have 
thought  it  over  many  times,  but  I  feel  that  it  is  right 
that  you  should  know  clearly  what  has  happened,  and 
how  it  has  come  about,  and  more  especially  that  you 
should  know  that  you  need  never  fear  any  troubles  such 
as  those  that  have  taken  place.  I  am  beginning  to  write 
this  while  we  are  yet  sailing,  and  shall  send  it  to  you  by 
ship  from  the  Cape,  or  if  it  chances  that  we  meet  any 
ship  on  her  way  to  England,  our  letters  may  be  put  on 
board  her." 

"  Why,  this  letter  must  be  more  than  a  year  old," 
Mark  said  to  himself.     There  was  no  date  to  the  letter, 


COLONEL   THORNLTKE'S  SECRET.  327 

but,  turning  to  the  last  sheet,  he  saw  as  a  postscript  after 
the  signature  the  words,  "  January  26th. — A  ship,  the 
Surinam,  is  lying  a  short  distance  from  us,  and  will  take 
our  letters  to  England." 

"  Yes,  it  must  be  a  year  old;  but  what  he  means  by  the 
way  he  begins  is  more  than  I  can  imagine; "  and  he 
turned  back  to  the  point  at  which  he  had  broken  off. 

"  I  would  tell  it  you  in  order  as  it  happened.  I, 
Ramoo,  am  a  Brahmin.  Twenty  years  ago  I  was  the  head 
priest  of  a  great  temple.  I  shall  not  say  where  the 
temple  was;  it  matters  not  in  any  way.  There  was  fight- 
ing, as  there  is  always  fighting  in  India.  There  were 
Company's  Sepoys  and  white  troops,  and  one  night  the 
most  sacred  bracelet  of  the  great  god  of  our  temple  was 
stolen." 

"  Good  Heavens ! "  Mark  exclaimed,  laying  down  the 
letter.  "  Then  it  has  been  Ramoo  who  has  all  this  time 
been  in  pursuit  of  the  diamonds;  and  to  think  that  my 
uncle  never  even  suspected  him! "  Then  suddenly  he 
continued,  "  Now  I  understand  why  it  was  my  life  was 
spared  by  those  fellows.  By  Jove,  this  is  astounding! " 
Then  he  took  up  the  letter  again. 

"  Two  of  the  Brahmins  under  me  had  observed,  at  a 
festival  the  day  before  the  bracelet  was  lost,  a  white 
soldier  staring  at  it  with  covetous  eyes.  One  of  them 
was  in  charge  of  the  temple  on  the  night  when  it  was 
stolen,  and  on  the  day  following  he  came  to  me,  and 
said,  '  I  desire  to  devote  my  life  to  the  recovery  of  the 
jewels  of  the  god.  Bondah  will  go  with  me;  we  will 
return  no  more  until  we  bring  them  back.'  '  It  is  good,' 
I  said;  '  the  god  must  be  appeased,  or  terrible  misfortunes 
may  happen.'  Then  we  held  a  solemn  service  in  the 
temple.  The  two  men  removed  the  caste  marks  from 
their  foreheads,  prostrated  themselves  before  the  god,  and 
went  out  from  amongst  us  as  outcasts  until  the  day  of 
their  death.  Two  months  later  a  messenger  came  from 
the  one  who  had  spoken  to  me,  saying  that  they  had 
found  the  man,  but  had  for  a  long  time  had  no  oppor- 
tunity of  finding  the  bracelet.  Then  Bondah  had  met 
him  in  a  lonely  place,  and  had  attacked  him.  Bondah 
had  lost  his   life,   but   the   soldier  was,   though   sorely 


328  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

wounded,  able  to  get  back  to  his  regiment.  He  had  died, 
but  he  had,  the  writer  was  convinced,  passed  the  jewels 
on  to  a  comrade,  whom  he  would  watch.  Then  I  saw  that 
one  man  was  not  sufficient  for  such  a  task.  Then  I,  too, 
the  Chief  Brahmin  of  the  temple,  saw  that  it  was  my 
duty  to  go  forth  also. 

"  I  laid  the  matter  before  the  others,  and  they  said, 
'  You  are  right;  it  is  you  who,  as  the  chief  in  the  service 
of  the  god,  should  bring  back  his  jewels.'  So  again  there 
was  a  service,  and  I  went  forth  as  an  outcast  and  a 
wanderer,  knowing  that  I  must  do  many  things  that  were 
forbidden  to  my  caste:  that  I  must  touch  unclean  things, 
must  eat  forbidden  food,  and  must  take  life  if  needs  be. 
You,  sahib,  cannot  understand  how  terrible  was  the  deg- 
radation to  me,  who  was  of  the  purest  blood  of  the 
Brahmins.  I  had  taken  the  most  solemn  vows  to  devote 
my  life  to  this.  I  knew  that,  whether  successful  or  not, 
although  I  might  be  forgiven  my  offense  by  the  god,  yet 
that  never  again  could  I  recover  my  caste,  even  though 
the  heaviest  penances  were  performed.  Henceforth,  I 
must  stand  alone  in  the  world,  without  kindred,  without 
friends,  without  help,  save  such  as  the  god  might  give  me 
in  the  search. 

"  I  was  rich.  The  greater  part  of  my  goods  I  gave  to 
the  temple,  and  yet  retained  a  considerable  sum,  for  I 
should  need  money  to  carry  out  my  quest,  and  after  I 
had  accomplished  it  1  should  hand  over  what  remained 
for  the  benefit  of  the  poor.  I  should  myself  become  a 
fakir.  I  want  you  to  understand,  sahib,  that  henceforth 
I  had  but  one  object  in  life,  a  supreme  one,  to  accom- 
plish, in  which  nothing  must  stand  in  my  way,  and  that 
what  would  be  in  others  a  crime  was  but  a  sacrifice  on 
my  part,  most  acceptable  to  the  god.  I  journeyed  down 
to  the  place  where  my  comrade  was,  dressed  as  one  of 
the  lowest  class,  even  as  a  sweeper,  and  he  and  I  strove 
by  all  the  means  in  our  power  to  discover  what  this  man 
had  done  with  the  jewels.  Night  after  night  we  crawled 
into  his  tent.  We  searched  his  bed  and  his  clothes. 
With  sharp  rods  we  tried  every  inch  of  the  soil,  believing 
that  he  had  hidden  the  diamonds  underground,  but  we 
failedo 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  329 

"  Then  my  comrade  said,  '  I  must  give  my  life  to  find 
out  where  he  hides  these  things.  I  will  watch  night 
after  night  hy  the  door  of  his  tent,  and  if  he  comes  out 
I  will  stab  him;  it  shall  be  a  mortal  wound,  but  I  will 
not  kill  him  outright.  Before  he  dies  he  will  doubtless, 
as  the  other  did,  pass  the  jewels  on  to  some  comrade, 
and  then  it  will  be  for  you  to  follow  him  up.'  '  It  is 
good,'  I  said.  '  This  man  may  have  hidden  them  away 
somewhere  during  the  time  they  have  marched  through 
the  country.  In  spite  of  the  watch  you  have  kept  he  may 
have  said  to  himself,  "  I  will  return,  though  it  be  years 
hence."  Your  plan  is  good/  I  said.  '  I  envy  you.  'Tis 
better  to  die  thus  than  to  live  in  sin  as  we  are  doing.' 

"  That  evening  the  man  was  stabbed,  but  an  officer 
running  up  killed  my  comrade.  The  soldier  was  taken 
to  the  hospital,  and  I  lay  down  beside  the  tent  with  my 
eye  to  a  slit  that  I  had  cut,  and  watched  till  morning. 

"  Then  I  took  my  broom  and  swept  the  ground.  I 
had  not  been  hired  as  one  of  the  camp  sweepers,  and  so 
could  move  about  and  sweep  where  I  chose.  No  one  ever 
asked  me  any  questions.  The  soldiers  heeded  me  no  more 
than  if  I  had  been  a  dog,  and,  of  course,  supposed  that 
I  was  acting  by  the  order  of  the  head  of  the  sweepers. 
Presently  I  saw  one  of  the  servants  of  the  hospital  go 
across  to  the  tent  of  the  officer  who  had  killed  my  com- 
rade. He  came  over  and  went  into  the  hospital  tent.  I 
felt  sure  that  it  was  the  wounded  man  who  had  sent  for 
him.  He  was  in  there  some  time.  Presently  a  soldier 
came  out  and  went  to  the  tent  of  the  wounded  man, 
and  returned  bringing  a  musket.  Then  I  said  to  myself, 
'  The  god  has  blinded  us.  He  wills  that  we  shall  go 
through  many  more  toils  before  we  regain  the  bracelet' 
Doubtless  the  man  had  carried  the  bracelet  in  his  musket 
all  the  time,  and  we,  blind  that  we  were,  had  never 
thought  of  it. 

"  Presently  the  officer  came  out  again.  I  noticed  that 
as  he  did  so  he  looked  round  on  all  sides  as  if  to  see  if 
he  were  watched.  Then  I  knew  that  it  was  as  I  had 
thought:  the  soldier  had  given  the  bracelet  to  him.  At 
this  I  was  pleased;  it  would  be  far  more  easy  to  search 
the  tent  of  an  officer  than  of  a  soldier,  who  sleeps  sur- 


330  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

rounded  by  his  comrades.  I  thought  that  there  was  no 
hurry  now;  it  would  need  but  patience,  and  I  should  be 
sure  to  find  them.  I  had  not  calculated  that  he  would 
have  better  opportunities  than  the  soldier  for  going 
about,  and  that,  doubtless,  the  soldier  had  warned  him  of 
his  danger.  Two  hours  later  the  officer  mounted  his 
horse  and  rode  towards  the  camp  of  another  regiment,  a 
mile  and  a  quarter  away.  There  was  nothing  in  that; 
but  I  watched  for  his  return  all  that  day  and  all  that 
night,  and  when  he  did  not  come  back,  I  felt  that  he 
was  doing  something  to  get  rid  of  the  diamonds. 

"  He  was  away  three  days,  and  when  he  returned  I  was 
almost  sure  that  he  had  not  the  diamonds  about  him. 
As  he  had  ridden  off  he  had  looked  about  just  as  he  had 
when  he  left  the  hospital:  he  was  uneasy,  just  as  if  he 
was  watched;  now  he  was  uneasy  no  longer.  Then  I 
knew  that  my  search  would  be  a  long  one,  and  might 
fail  altogether.  I  went  away,  and  for  three  months  I 
prayed  and  fasted;  then  I  returned.  I  bought  different 
clothes,  I  painted  my  forehead  with  another  caste  mark, 
then  I  bought  from  the  servant  of  an  officer  in  another 
regiment  his  papers  of  service:  recommendations  from 
former  masters.  Then  I  went  to  the  officer — you  will 
guess,  sahib,  that  it  was  the  Major,  your  uncle — and  I 
paid  his  servant  to  leave  his  service,  and  to  present  me 
as  a  brother  of  his  who  had  been  accustomed  to  serve 
white  sahibs,  and  was,  like  himself,  a  good  servant;  so  I 
took  his  place. 

"  He  was  a  good  master,  and  I  came  to  love  him, 
though  I  knew  that  I  might  yet  have  to  kill  him.  You 
have  heard  that  I  saved  his  life  three  times;  I  did  so 
partly  because  I  loved  him,  but  chiefly  because  his  life 
was  most  precious  to  me,  for  if  he  had  died  I  should 
have  lost  all  clew  to  the  bracelet.  1  had,  of  course,  made 
sure  that  he  had  not  got  them  with  him;  over  and  over 
again  I  searched  every  article  in  his  possession.  I  ripped 
open  his  saddle  lest  they  might  be  sewn  up  in  its  stuffing. 
All  that  could  be  done  I  did,  until  I  was  quite  sure  that 
he  had  not  got  them.  He,  on  his  part,  came  to  like  me. 
He  thought  that  I  was  the  most  faithful  of  servants,  and 
after  the  last  time  I  saved  his  life  he  took  me  with  him 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  331 

everywhere.  He  went  down  to  Madras,  and  was  married 
there.  I  watched  his  every  movement.  After  that  he 
went  down  frequently.  Then  a  child  was  born,  and  six 
months  afterwards  his  wife  died. 

"  The  regiment  was  stationed  at  the  fort.  At  that 
time  he  was  at  many  places — the  governor's,  the  other 
officer  sahibs',  the  merchants',  and  others'.  I  could  not 
follow  him,  but  I  was  sure  by  his  manner  that  he  had 
not  taken  back  the  bracelet  from  whoever  he  had  sent 
it  to.  I  knew  him  so  well  by  this  time  that  I  should 
have  noticed  any  change  in  his  manner  in  a  moment.  At 
last  the  child  went  away  in  the  charge  of  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham. I  bribed  the  child's  ayah,  and  she  searched  Mrs. 
Cunningham's  boxes  and  every  garment  she  had,  and 
found  no  small  sealed  parcel  or  box  amongst  them. 
Three  years  more  passed.  By  this  time  the  Colonel 
treated  me  more  as  a  friend  than  as  a  servant.  He  said 
one  day,  laughing,  '  It  is  a  long  time  since  my  things  have 
been  turned  topsy-turvy,  Eamoo.  I  think  the  thieves 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  I  have  not  got  what 
they  are  looking  for.'  'What  is  that,  sahib?'  I  asked. 
'  Some  special  jewels,'  he  said.  '  They  are  extremely 
valuable.  But  I  have  got  them  and  a  lot  of  other  things 
so  safely  stowed  that  no  one  will  ever  find  them  unless  I 
give  them  the  clew.'  '  But  suppose  you  are  killed,  sahib/ 
I  said;  '  your  little  daughter  will  never  get  the  things.' 
'  I  have  provided  for  that,'  he  answered.  '  If  I  am  killed 
I  have  arranged  that  she  shall  know  all  about  it  either 
when  she  comes  to  the  age  of  eighteen  or  twenty-one.' 

"  A  few  weeks  after  that  he  was  wounded  very  badly. 
I  nursed  him  night  and  day  for  weeks,  and  when  he 
came  to  England  he  brought  me  with  him.  As  you 
know,  sahib,  he  died.  When  he  was  in  London  he  went 
to  see  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  the  child,  and  several  times 
to  the  office  of  the  lawyer  who  attended  your  father's 
funeral.  Then  he  came  down  to  your  father,  and  I  know 
he  had  long  and  earnest  conversations  with  him.  I  did 
all  I  could  to  listen,  but  the  Colonel  always  had  the 
windows  and  doors  shut  before  he  began  to  speak.  I 
could  see  that  your  father  was  troubled.  Then  the 
Colonel  died.     After  his  death  I  could  never  find  his 


332  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

snuffbox;  he  had  carried  it  about  with  him  for  some 
years;  once  or  twice  I  had  examined  it,  but  it  was  too 
small  for  the  diamonds  to  be  hidden  in.  I  suppose  that 
he  had  given  it  to  the  sahib,  your  father,  but  as  I  could 
never  find  it  I  guessed  that  there  was  some  mystery 
attached  to  it,  though  what  I  could  not  tell. 

"  Then  your  father  took  me  down  to  Crowswood  with 
him,  and  Mrs.  Cunningham  and  the  little  girl  came 
down.  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  your  father  seemed 
to  be  master  of  the  estate,  and  that  no  one  thought  any- 
thing of  the  child,  whose  name  had  been  changed.  I 
spoke  one  day  to  Mrs.  Cunningham  about  it;  your  father 
seemed  to  me  a  just  and  good  man,  and  I  could  not 
believe  that  he  was  robbing  his  brother's  daughter.  Mrs. 
Cunningham  told  me  that  the  Colonel  did  not  wish  her 
to  be  known  as  an  heiress,  and  that  he  had  left  the  estate 
to  his  brother  until  she  came  of  age.  Your  father  was 
as  good  a  master  as  the  Colonel  had  been.  I  watched 
and  watched,  and  once  or  twice  I  overheard  him  talking 
to  himself  in  the  library,  and  discovered  that  your  father 
himself  was  altogether  ignorant  of  the  hiding-place  of 
the  property  that  the  Colonel  had  mentioned  in  his  will. 
I  knew  then  that  I  should  have  to  wait  until  the  child 
was  either  eighteen  or  twenty-one. 

"  It  was  a  long  time,  but  I  had  learnt  to  be  patient. 
I  was  not  unhappy;  I  loved  your  father,  I  loved  the 
Colonel's  little  daughter,  and  I  was  very  fond  of  you. 
All  these  things  were  small  to  me  in  comparison  to  my 
vow  and  the  finding  the  jewels  of  the  god,  but  they 
shortened  the  years  of  waiting.  Then  a  year  before  the 
young  mistress  was  eighteen  came  the  shot  through  the 
window.  I  did  not  know  who  had  fired  it,  but  I  saw  that 
your  father's  life  was  in  danger,  and  I  said  to  myself, 
'  He  will  tell  the  young  sahib  what  he  knows  about  the 
bracelet.'  After  you  had  gone  into  the  library  I  opened 
the  door  quietly,  and  listened.  I  could  hear  much  that 
was  said,  but  not  all.  I  heard  him  say  something  about 
a  snuffbox,  and  some  means  of  finding  the  lost  things 
being  hidden  in  it,  and  that  he  had  kept  them  all  these 
years  in  a  secret  hiding-place,  which  he  described.  You 
were  to  search  for  the  diamonds,  and  I  guessed  from  that 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  333 

that  he  did  not  know  what  he  was  to  be  told  when  the 
young  memsahib  came  of  age,  or  perhaps  when  she  was 
eighteen.  It  was  not  until  I  had  thought  over  what  I 
heard  that  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  if  I  could  find 
the  things  he  spoke  of  I  might  be  able  to  find  the  jewels. 
By  that  time  your  father  had  gone  to  bed.  I  was  foolish 
not  to  have  been  patient,  but  my  blood  boiled  after 
waiting  for  eighteen  or  nineteen  years.  The  god  seemed 
to  have  sent  me  the  chance,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  I 
should  take  it  at  once.  I  knew  that  he  generally  slept 
with  his  window  open,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  would 
be  easy  to  slip  in  there  and  to  get  those  things  from  the 
cabinet.  I  knew  where  the  ladder  was  kept.  I  took  a 
file  from  the  tool-chest  and  cut  the  chain." 

Here  Mark  dropped  the  letter  in  horror. 

"  Good  Heavens!  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Then  Bastow  spoke 
truly,  and  he  was  not  my  father's  murderer!  Never  did 
a  single  suspicion  of  Bamoo  enter  my  head.  This  is 
appalling;  but  I  cannot  read  any  more  now.  It  is  time 
for  me  to  go  and  dress  for  dinner." 

"Is  anything  the  matter  with  you,  Mark?"  Millicent 
asked  anxiously,  as  she  met  him  in  the  drawing  room; 
"  you  look  as  white  as  a  sheet." 

"  I  have  been  reading  Bamoo's  letter,  and  he  has  told 
me  some  things  that  have  surprised  and  shocked  me.  I 
will  tell  you  about  them  after  dinner,  dear.  It  is  a  long 
story,  but  you  won't  have  to  wait  until  Dick  and  the 
Gregs  are  gone.  They  are  interested  in  all  that  interests 
us,  and  shall  hear  the  letter  read.  No;  I  think  I  will  ask 
them  and  Dick  to  come  in  the  morning.  I  should  not 
like  anything  to  sadden  the  first  evening  of  our  coming 
home." 

"  Then  it  is  something  sad." 

"  Yes,  but  it  does  not  affect  us,  though  it  does  affect 
Bamoo.  Now  clear  your  brow,  dear,  and  dismiss  the 
subject  from  your  mind,  else  our  guests  will  fancy  that 
our  marriage  has  not  been  altogether  so  satisfactory  as 
they  had  hoped." 

"  As  if  they  could  think  such  a  thing  as  that,  Mark," 
she  said  indignantly.  "  But  there  is  the  sound  of  wheels; 
it  is  Mr.  Chetwynd's  gig." 


334  COLONEL   THOBNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

The  three  visitors  all  came  in  together,  having  met  at 
the  door.  Mark,  with  a  great  effort,  put  aside  the  letter 
from  his  mind,  and  a  cheerful  evening  was  spent.  Thej 
had  much  to  tell  of  their  travels,  many  questions  to  ask 
about  the  parish  and  their  mutual  friends  and  the  neigh- 
borhood generally,  and  when  they  rose  to  go  Mark  said: 

"  Would  you  mind  riding  over  again  to-morrow  morn- 
ing, Dick?  I  have  a  letter  to  read  to  you  that  will 
interest  you  greatly." 

"Certainly.     What  time  shall  I  be  here?" 

"  Say  at  eleven  o'clock.  It  is  a  long  epistle,  and  will 
take  us  an  hour  to  get  through;  after  that  we  can  stroll 
round,  and,  of  course,  you  will  stop  to  lunch.  I  should 
be  glad  if  you  and  Mrs.  Greg  can  come  over  too,"  he 
added,  turning  to  the  Eector ;  "  you  will  be  much  inter- 
ested also  in  the  matter." 

The  next  day  the  party  met  in  the  library  at  the  hour 
named. 

"  I  may  tell  you,  Mr.  Greg,  that  I  specially  asked  you 
and  your  wife  here  because  this  letter  throws  some  light 
on  Authur  Bastow's  connection  with  my  father's  murder; 
you  were  friends  with  his  father,  and  I  think  you  ought 
to  know.  As  to  you,  Dick,  the  letter  will  interest  you 
from  beginning  to  end,  and  will  surprise  as  much  as  it 
will  interest  you." 

"Even  I  don't  know  what  it  is,  Mrs.  Greg,"  Millicent 
said.  "  I  know  it  quite  upset  Mark  yesterday,  but  he 
said  he  would  sooner  I  did  not  know  anything  about  it 
until  to-day,  as  he  did  not  want  me  to  be  saddened  on 
the  first  evening  of  our  return  home.  Now,  please  go  on, 
Mark;  you  have  said  quite  enough  to  excite  us  all." 

Mark  had  read  but  a  short  distance  when  Dick  Chet- 
wynd  exclaimed: 

"  Then  Eamoo  was  at  the  bottom  of  that  Indian  busi- 
ness, after  all.  I  almost  wonder  you  never  suspected  it, 
Mark." 

"  Well,  I  hardly  could  do  so,"  Mark  said,  "  when  my 
uncle  was  so  fond  of  him,  and  he  had  served  him  so  faith- 
fully." 

As  he  approached  the  point  at  which  he  had  laid  down 
the  letter  on  the  previous  evening,  Millicent's  color  faded. 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  335 

Suddenly  an  exclamation  of  horror  broke  from  her  when, 
he  read  the  last  line. 

"  Oh,  Mark,"  she  said,  with  quivering  lips,  "  don't  say 
it  was  Kamoo.     He  always  seemed  so  kind  and  good." 

"  It  was  here  I  stopped  last  night,"  he  said,  "  but  I  fear 
there  can  be  no  doubt  about  it.  I  must  say  that  it  is 
evident  from  this  letter  that  no  thought  of  doing  my 
father  harm  was  in  his  mind  when  he  placed  that  ladder 
against  the  window.     Now  I  will  go  on." 

The  letter  continued  as  follows: 

"  Having  placed  the  ladder,  I  clambered  to  the  window 
and  quietly  entered  the  room.  It  was  quite  dark,  but  I 
knew  the  place  of  every  piece  of  furniture  so  well  that  I 
was  able  to  go  without  hesitation  to  the  cabinet.  Your 
father  was  speaking  very  slowly  and  distinctly  when  he 
told  you  how  it  was  to  be  opened,  and  I  was  able  to  do 
it  easily,  but  I  did  not  know  that  the  back  opened  with 
a  sharp  click,  and  the  noise  startled  me  and  woke  your 
father.  In  an  instant  he  was  out  of  bed  and  seized  me 
by  the  throat.  Now,  he  was  a  much  stronger  man  that 
I  was.  I  struggled  in  vain.  I  felt  that  in  a  moment  I 
should  become  insensible;  my  vow  and  my  duty  to  the 
god  flashed  across  me,  and  scarce  knowing  what  I  did,  I 
drew  a  little  dagger  I  always  carried,  and  struck  blindly. 
He  fell,  and  I  fell  beside  him.  For  a  time  I  was  insensi- 
ble. When  I  recovered  I  was  seized  with  the  bitterest 
remorse  that  I  had  killed  one  I  loved,  but  I  seemed  to 
hear  the  voice  of  the  god  saying,  '  You  have  done  well, 
Eamoo.  I  am  your  great  master,  and  you  are  bound  to 
my  service.' 

"  I  got  up  almost  blindly,  felt  in  the  cabinet,  and 
found  a  coin  and  a  piece  of  paper,  and  a  feeling  of  exul- 
tation came  over  me  that,  after  nearly  twenty  years,  I 
should  succeed  in  carrying  out  my  vow  and  taking  his 
bracelet  back  to  the  god.  I  descended  the  ladder,  crept 
in  the  back  door  by  which  I  had  come  out,  went  up  to 
my  room,  where  I  had  kept  a  light  burning,  and  examined 
my  treasures.  Then  I  saw  that  all  had  been  in  vain. 
They  were  doubtless  a  key  to  the  mystery,  but  until  a 
clew  was  given  they  were  absolutely  useless.  I  sat  for 
hours  staring  at  them.     I  would  have  gone  back  and 


336  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET. 

replaced  them  in  the  cabinet  and  left  all  as  it  had  been 
before,  but  I  dared  not  enter  the  room  again.  The  next 
day  I  heard  you  say  that  you  suspected  that  the  talk 
with  your  father  had  been  overheard,  and  that  the  man 
who  had  earlier  in  the  evening  before  shot  at  him  had 
returned,  and  while  listening  had  heard  something  said 
about  the  hiding-place,  and  thought  that  he  would  find 
some  sort  of  treasure  there.  I  thought  that  in  the  talk 
your  father  might  have  told  you  how  to  use  these  things, 
though  I  had  not  caught  it,  and  it  was  therefore  impor- 
tant that  you  should  have  them  back  again,  so  I  went 
into  the  room  after  the  inquest  was  over,  and  placed  the 
things  in  their  hiding-place  again. 

"  Then,  thinking  it  over,  I  determined  to  leave  your 
service.  You  would  be  trying  to  find  the  treasure,  and  I 
must  watch  you,  and  this  I  could  not  do  as  long  as  I 
was  a  house-servant;  so  I  came  up  to  London,  and  you 
thought  I  had  sailed  for  India,  but  I  did  not  go.  I  hired 
four  Lascars,  men  of  my  own  religion,  and  paid  them  to 
watch  every  movement  that  you  made,  to  see  where  you 
visited  and  where  you  went.  I  paid  them  well,  and  they 
served  me  well;  it  was  so  that  I  was  able  to  bring  those 
men  to  your  help  when  but  for  that  you  would  have  lost 
your  life.  It  was  for  this  to  some  extent  that  I  had  you 
followed;  for  I  soon  found  out  that  you  were  on  the 
search  for  the  man  who  had  fired  through  the  window, 
and  who  you  believed  had  killed  your  father,  rather  than 
for  the  jewels.  I  knew  that  you  might  run  into  danger, 
and  partly  because  I  loved  you,  and  partly  because  it  was 
possible  that  it  would  be  essential  for  that  coin  and  piece 
of  paper  to  be  produced  in  order  that  the  treasure  might 
be  obtained,  I  kept  guard  over  you. 

"  When  the  18th  of  iiugust  approached  we  were  all 
on  the  watch.  I  felt  sure  that  you  would  take  every 
possible  precaution  while  you  had  the  bracelet  in  your 
possession.  We  knew  who  were  your  principal  friends, 
the  banker's  son  and  Mr.  Chetwynd.  On  the  18th  of 
August  everything  went  on  as  usual.  On  the  following 
day  the  banker's  son  came  to  you,  and  as  soon  as  he  left 
you  you  went  to  the  lawyer's,  and  afterwards  to  the 
banker's.     I  felt  sure  now  that  it  was  at  that  bank  that 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRETS  337 

the  jewels  had  been  placed,  and  that  you  had  been  wait- 
ing till  the  young  memsahib's  birthday  for  the  news 
that  they  might  be  taken  out;  then  you  went  to  Mr. 
Chetwynd's,  and  he  went  to  the  bank.  I  had  no  doubt 
that  he  was  to  take  them  out  for  you,  and  after  that  one 
of  the  men  never  took  his  eyes  off  him  when  he  was 
outside  of  his  house.  Afterwards  you  went  to  the  place 
where  the  men  used  to  fight,  and  the  man  who  was 
watching  you  went  in,  and  had  beer,  and  saw  you  talking 
with  the  big  man  you  used  to  fight  with,  in  the  parlor 
behind  the  bar.  The  watcher  went  out  to  follow  you, 
but  left  another  to  watch  this  man.  We  found  that  both 
Mr.  Chetwynd  and  he  went  to  a  shipping  office  in  Tower 
Street,  and  we  then  guessed  that  you  intended  to  take  the 
bracelet  at  once  across  the  sea. 

"  I  went  myself  and  found  out  that  a  vessel  was  sailing 
in  two  days  to  Amsterdam.  I  took  a  passage  for  a  man 
in'  the  cheap  cabin,  and  asked  to  look  at  the  list  of 
passengers,  as  I  believe  that  some  friend  would  be  sailing 
by  her;  there  were  two  men's  names  down  together  in 
one  handwriting  among  the  first-class  passengers,  and  I 
guessed  that  these  were  you  and  Mr.  Chetwynd.  I  also 
saw  the  name  of  the  big  man,  which  I  had  heard  long 
before,  down  in  the  list  of  passengers,  and  another  name 
next  to  his  in  the  same  handwriting.  I  did  not  know 
his  name,  but  guessed  that  it  was  another  of  the  fight- 
ing men,  and  that  they  were  going  to  look  after  you 
until  you  had  got  rid  of  the  diamonds.  On  the  morning 
that  she  was  to  sail  one  of  the  Lascars  was  on  board;  I 
thought  it  possible  that  in  order  to  throw  anyone  who 
might  be  following  you  off  your  scent  you  might  at  the 
last  moment  go  ashore,  and  that  Mr.  Chetwynd  might 
take  the  diamonds  over,  so  I  watched,  and  saw  you  on 
the  deck  with  your  friend. 

"  I  and  the  other  three  Lascars  then  took  passage  that 
evening  in  a  craft  for  Rotterdam,  and  got  to  Amsterdam 
two  days  before  your  ship  arrived;  we  went  to  different 
houses,  and  going  separately  into  the  worst  parts  of  the 
town,  soon  found  a  man  who  kept  a  gambling  den,  and 
who  was  a  man  who  could  be  trusted.  I  offered  him  a 
thousand  francs  to  collect  twenty-five  men,  who  were  to 


338  COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET 

be  paid  a  hundred  francs  each,  and  to  be  ready,  if  your 
ship  arrived  after  dark,  to  attack  two  passengers  I  would 
point  out  to  them.  I  did  not  want  you  to  be  hurt,  so  bar- 
gained that  all  knives  were  to  be  left  behind,  and  that 
he  was  to  supply  the  men  only  with  clubs.  If  the  ship 
came  in  in  daylight  you  were  to  be  attacked  the  first 
time  you  went  out  after  dark.  You  know  how  that  was 
carried  out.  You  had  two  more  men  with  you  than  I 
had  expected;  but  I  thought  that  with  a  sudden  rush  you 
might  all  be  separated.  You  know  the  rest.  The  mo- 
ment you  were  knocked  down  I  and  three  others 
carried  you  to  a  boat.  It  had  been  lying  near  the  stairs, 
and  we  took  you  off  to  the  barge  in  which  I  had  arranged 
you  should  be  taken  to  Eotterdam. 

"  We  told  them  that  you  were  a  drunken  man  who  had 
been  stunned  in  a  fight  in  a  public  house.  As  soon  as 
we  were  off,  I  searched  you  and  found  the  diamonds. 
Then,  as  you  know,  we  put  you  ashore.  We  all  crossed 
to  England  that  night.  Two  days  later  I  sailed  in  this 
ship,  the  Brahmapootra.  I  am  not  afraid  of  telling  you 
this,  because  I  know  that  the  diamonds  will  not  shine  on 
the  god's  arm  until  all  fear  of  search  and  inquiry  are  over. 
My  task  will  be  done  when  I  hand  them  over  to  the  man 
who  holds  the  office  I  once  held;  then  I  shall  bear  the 
penances  imposed  on  me  for  having  broken  my  caste  in 
every  way,  and  for  having  taken  life,  and  for  the  rest  of 
my  days  I  shall  wander  as  a  fakir  through  India.  I  shall 
be  supported  by  the  knowledge  that  I  have  done  my  duty 
to  my  god,  and  have  sacrificed  all  in  his  service,  but  it 
will  ever  be  a  grief  to  me  that  in  so  doing  it  was  neces- 
sary to  sacrifice  the  life  of  one  who  had  ever  shown  me 
kindness.  You  may  wonder  why  I  have  written  this,  but 
I  felt  that  I  must  own  the  truth  to  you,  and  that  you 
should  know  that  if  in  the  course  of  my  duty  to  the  god  it 
was  my  misfortune  to  slay  your  father,  I  have  twice  saved 
your  life,  just  as  three  times  I  saved  that  of  the  Colonel 
sahib,  your  uncle." 

There  was  silence  for  some  little  time  after  Mark  had 
finished  reading. 

"  It  is  a  strange  story  indeed,"  Mr.  Greg  said,  "  but  it 


COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  339 

is  not  for  us  to  judge  the  man.  He  has  acted  according 
to  his  lights,  and  none  can  do  more.  He  sacrificed  him- 
self and  his  life  solely  to  the  service  of  his  god,  well  know- 
ing that  even  were  he  successful,  his  reward  would  he 
penance  and  suffering,  and  a  life  of  what  cannot  but  be 
misery  to  a  man  brought  up,  as  he  has  been,  to  consider 
himself  of  the  highest  and  holiest  rank  of  the  people.  I 
think,  Mark,  we  need  neither  say  nor  think  anything 
harshly  of  him." 

"  Certainly  not,"  Mark  agreed.  "  I  can  understand 
that  according  to  his  view  of  the  matter  anything  that 
stood  between  him  and  his  goal  was  but  an  obstacle  to  be 
swept  aside;  assuredly  there  was  no  premeditation  in  the 
killing  of  my  father.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  man  was 
attached  to  him,  and  that  he  killed  him  not  to  save  his 
own  life,  but  in  order  that  his  mission  might  be  carried 
out." 

"  Quite  so,  Mark;  it  was  done  in  the  same  spirit,  if  I 
may  say  so,  that  Abraham  would  have  sacrificed  his  son 
at  the  order  of  his  God.  What  years  of  devotion  that 
man  has  passed  through!  Accustomed,  as  you  see,  to  a 
lofty  position,  to  the  respect  and  veneration  of  those 
around  him,  he  became  a  servant,  and  performed  duties 
that  were  in  his  opinion  not  only  humiliating,  but 
polluting  and  destructive  to  his  caste,  and  which  rendered 
him  an  outcast  even  among  the  lowest  of  his  people.  Do 
you  not  think  so,  Mrs.  Thorndyke?  " 

Millicent,  who  was  crying  quietly,  looked  up. 

"  I  can  only  think  of  him  as  the  man  who  twice  saved 
Mark's  life,"  she  said. 

"  I  understand  why  you  have  wished  to  tell  me  this 
story,"  the  Rector  went  on  to  Mark.  "  You  wish  me  to 
know  that  Arthur  Bastow  did  not  add  this  to  his  other 
crimes;  that  he  was  spared  from  being  the  murderer  of 
your  father,  but  from  no  want  of  will  on  his  part;  and, 
as  we  know,  he  killed  many  others,  the  last  but  an  hour 
or  two  before  he  put  an  end  to  his  own  life;  still  I  am 
glad  that  this  terrible  crime  is  not  his.  It  seemed  to  be 
so  revolting  and  unnatural.  It  was  the  Squire's  father 
who  had  given  the  living  to  his  father,  and  the  Squire 
himself  had  been  his  friend  in  the  greatest  of  his  trials, 


340  COLONEL   THORNDYKE'S  SECRET: 

and  had  given  him  a  shelter  and  a  home  in  his  old  age. 
I  am  glad,  at  least,  that  the  man,  evil  as  he  was,  was 
spared  this  last  crime  of  the  grossest  ingratitude." 

"  Well,  Mark,"  Dick  Chetwynd  said  cheerfully,  in  order 
to  turn  the  subject,  "  I  am  heartily  glad  that  we  have 
got  to  the  bottom  of  this  jewel  mystery.  I  have  been 
puzzling  over  it  all  the  time  that  you  have  been  away, 
and  I  have  never  been  able  to  understand  how,  in  spite 
of  the  precautions  that  we  took,  they  should  have  found 
out  that  the  jewels  were  at  Cotter's,  and  that  you  had 
them  on  board  with  you,  and,  above  all,  why  they  spared 
your  life  when  they  could  so  easily  and  safely  have  put 
you  out  of  the  way.  It  is  certainly  strange  that  while 
you  were  thinking  over  everything  connected  with  the 
jewels,  the  idea  that  Eamoo  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the 
whole  business  should  never  once  have  occurred  to  you." 

A  month  later,  when  Mark  went  up  to  town,  he  called 
at  Leadenhall  Street. 

"  Of  course,  you  have  not  heard  of  the  arrival  of  the 
Brahmapootra  at  Madras  yet.  May  I  ask  when  she  left 
the  Cape?" 

"  She  never  left  the  Cape,  sir,"  the  clerk  replied,  "  and 
there  are  very  grave  fears  for  her  safety.  She  spoke  the 
Surinam  and  gave  her  mails  for  England  when  the  latter 
was  eight  days  out  from  the  Cape,  and  the  Surinam 
reported  that  a  day  later  she  encountered  a  terrible  gale, 
lost  several  spars,  and  narrowly  escaped  being  blown  on- 
to the  African  coast.  Since  then  we  have  had  no  news 
of  the  Brahmapootra.  A  number  of  Indiamen  have  ar- 
rived since;  the  latest  came  in  only  yesterday,  and  up  to 
the  time  when  she  left  no  news  had  been  received  of  the 
ship.  Three  small  craft  had  been  sent  up  the  coast 
weeks  before  to  make  inquiries  for  her,  but  had  returned 
without  being  able  to  obtain  any  intelligence,  and  had 
seen  no  wreckage  on  the  coast,  although  they  had  gone 
several  hundred  miles  beyond  where  she  had  spoken  the 
Surinam,,  therefore  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  she 
foundered  with  all  hands  during  the  gale.  You  had  no 
near  relatives  on  board,  I  hope,  sir?  " 

"  No  near  relatives,  but  there  was  one  on  board  in 
whom  I   was   greatly   interested.     Here  is   my   card;   I 


COLONEL  THORNDYKE'S  SECRET.  341 

should  feel  greatly  obliged  if  you  would  write  me  a  line 
should  you  hear  anything  of  her." 

"  I  will  do  so,  sir.  We  have  had  innumerable  inquiries 
from  friends  and  relatives  of  those  on  board,  and 
although  of  late  we  have  been  obliged  to  say  that  there 
can  no  longer  be  any  hope  that  she  will  ever  be  heard  of, 
not  a  day  passes  but  many  persons  still  come  in  to 
inquire." 

No  letter  ever  came  to  Mark;  no  news  was  ever  heard 
of  the  Brahmapootra.  Eamoo's  sacrifice  was  in  vain,  and 
never  again  did  the  diamond  bracelet  glisten  on  the  arm 
of  the  idol  in  the  unknown  temple. 


THB    HND. 


